THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

RIVERSIDE 


HISTORY    OF    PAINTING 


VOLUME  I. 


r^'' 


iv 


1   >         ^  )       *  3 


HISTORY 


OF 


ANCIENT,  EARLY   CHRISTIAN,  AND  MEDIEVAL 


PAINTING 


FROM  THE  GERMAN  OF  THE  LATE 

Dr.    ALFRED    wo  LT  MANN 

PROFESSOR    AT    THE    IMPERIAL   UNIVERSITY    OF    STRASSBURG 


AND 

Dr.    KARL    WOERMANN 

PROFESSOR    AT   THE    ROYAL    ACADEMY    OF    ARTS,   DUSSELDORF 

Edited   bv    SIDNEY    COLVIN,    M.A. 

SLADE   PROFESSOR   OF   FINE   ART   IN   THE   UNIVERSITY   OF  CAMBRIDGE 


WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


NEW  YORK 
DODD,  MEAD  &  COMPANY 

1 894. 


r    •     «       ■    « 
c     c      t     •   /'     » 


e  c       •  ,  '  ' 


Kb. 


EDITOR'S    PREFACE. 


In  the  study  of  painting,  as  in  so  many  other  studies,  the  critical  and 
historical  spirit  of  our  age  continues  to  be  ev^er  more  and  more  actively 
at  work.  Since  we  have  learnt  to  realise  how  large  and  vital  a  part 
of  the  genius  of  the  past  survives  in  the  images  of  the  painter,  the 
labours  of  many  industrious  inquirers  have  been  constantly  directed 
towards  the  solution  of  chronological,  personal,  and  technical  problems 
connected  with  every  period  and  phase  of  the  art.  At  the  same  time, 
the  inherent  attraction  of  the  subject  has  drawn  towards  it  a  constantly 
increasing  measure  of  popular  interest  and  curiosity.  Hence  there 
has  made  itself  felt  the  need  of  an  adequate  general  History  of 
Painting,  in  which  the  scattered  results  of  research  should  be  collected 
and  set  forth  for  the  benefit  alike  of  the  student  and  the  general  reader. 
This  need  one  of  the  most  distinguished  of  the  several  dis- 
V  tinguished  German  historians  of  art,  the  late  Professor  Woltmann  of 
^  Strassburg,  undertook  a  few  years  ago  to  satisfy.  The  first  volume 
of  his  work,  carrying  the  subject  from  the  dawn  of  ancient  Egyptian 
down  to  the  transformation  of  Italian  mediaeval  civilisation,  is  now 
laid  before  the  English  public. 

The  standard  general  book  on  the   subject  has  hitherto  been  the 
Handbook  of  Dr.  Kugler,  which,  in  its  successive  English  editions,  had 
the  advantage  of  translation  and  revision  by  thoroughly  accomplished 
hands.      The  present  work   not  only  represents  the  existing   state   of 
knowledge  better  than   that   of  Kugler,  but  follows   a    more   compre- 
hensive i^Ian,  inasmuch  as  it  prefixes  to  the  story  of  Christian  painting 
^         the  story  of  painting  as  practised  in  Ancient  Egypt,  the  Asiatic  Empires, 
\(^         Greece,  and   Rome;  a  portion  of  his  task  which   Professor  Woltmann 
iV         confided  to  a  highly  instructed  colleague.  Dr.  Woermann  of  Dusseldorf. 
Professor   Woltmann's   own    share    of   the   book   is   especially  dis- 


vi  PREFACE. 

tinguished  for  its  copious  and  original  treatment  of  the  various 
European  schools  of  miniature-painting,  mural  painting,  and  mosaic, 
in  the  Early  Christian  and  Middle  Ages.  A  knowledge  of  these 
comparatively  obscure  branches  of  the  subject  is  in  truth  essential  to 
the  understanding  both  of  the  genius  of  those  ages  themselves,  and  of 
the  steps  by  which  painting,  in  the  days  of  its  humility,  determined 
the  choice  and  matured  the  conception  of  those  themes  which  in  the 
days  of  its  glory  were  destined  still  to  occupy  it. 

Speaking  generally,  it  may  be  said  with  confidence  that  the  narra- 
tive now  set  before  the  reader  will  be  found  to  be  the  most  complete 
and  trustworthy  History  of  Painting  yet  written. 

The  untimely  death  of  Professor  Woltmann,  in  the  early  spring  of 
this  year,  has  prevented  the  conclusion  of  his  undertaking  by  his  own 
hand.  But  it  is  being  carried  on  from  the  materials  which  he  had 
prepared,  and  with  the  assistance  of  other  writers  of  authority,  by  his 
colleague,  Dr.  Woermann ;  and  the  present  volume  will  be  followed 
within  a  few  months  by  a  second  containing  the  history  of  painting  in 
its  great  age,  the  age  of  the  Renascence. 

For  the  English  text  as  it  hereinafter  appears,  it  is  proper  to  say 
that  the  Translator  and  the  Editor  are  alone  responsible.  It  has  been 
their  endeavour  to  convey  in  the  clearest  and  simplest  form  the  facts 
and  information  provided  by  the  authors.  For  that  purpose  allowance 
has  been  made  for  the  difference  which  exists  between  German  and 
our  own  modes,  not  of  expression  only,  but  of  thought ;  and  the  letter 
of  the  original  has  often  been  sacrificed  for  the  sake  of  presenting 
a  statement  or  an  idea  in  the  shape  that  seemed  most  suited  to 
English  apprehensions.  With  the  facts  and  judgments  of  his  authors 
it  would  have  been  presumption  in  the  Editor  to  tamper ;  and  he 
has  been  careful  to  mark  with  brackets  [  ]  the  very  few  instances 
where  he  has  introduced  an  addition  or  interpolation  into  their  text 
or  notes.  For  the  rest,  he  has  considered  it  within  his  province  to 
venture  upon  an  occasional  abridgment  or  transposition,  and  has 
consulted  his  own  ideas  of  order  and  lucidity  in  such  matters  as 
chapter-headings,  the  indication  of  leading  dates,  and  the  divisions 
and  headings  of  paragraphs. 

Trinity  College,  Cambridge, 
Mav  1880. 


CONTENTS 
OF   THE    FIRST   VOLUME. 


PART    I. 


PAINTING  IN  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD. 


BOOK     I. 
PAINTING    IN    ANCIENT   EGYPT  AND   THE   EAST. 


CHAPTER  I. 

EGYPT. 

Nature  of  the  art  of  painting  .... 
Earliest  monuments  of  known  date 
Egypt  :  its  geograpliy  and  history  . 
Variations  of  style  in  the  Old,  Middle,  and  New 

Kingdoms  ...... 

Architectural  aspect  of  ancient  Egypt 
Relations  of  Painting  and  Relief  Sculpture  in 

Egyptian  art 

Absence  of  perspective  in  Egyptian  painting     . 
Various  modes  of  compensating  for  absence  of 

perspective  ...... 

General  system  of  composition 

Canon  of  human  form     ..... 

Deficiency  of    individi-al    character  ;    skill    in 

portraying  movement ;  use  of  symbolism 
Deficiency  of  facial  expression 
Treatment  of  animals 
Treatment  of  vegetation 
Treatment  of  water 

•System  of  colouring  in  Egyptian  painting 
Division  of  laljour  ;  technical  methods 
Character  of  the  results  .... 


PAGE 

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4 
4 

4 

5 

6 

7 

7 

9 

II 

II 

12 

13 
13 
>3 
14 

15 
16 


Religious  subjects 

I'AGE 
16 

Domestic  subjects 

18 

Landscape      ...         •         .         , 

19 

Various  forms  of  painting  in  Egypt 

19 

Illustrated  MSS 

19 

Caricature      ...... 

20 

General  character  recapitulated 

21 

CHAPTER  n. 

THE   MONARCHIES   OF  WESTERN   ASIA. 


Geographical  centres      .... 
The  three  Monarchies     .... 
Remains  of  the  First  Monarchy 
Remains  of  the  Second  Monarchy  . 
Assyrian  fresco-paintings 
Assyrian  tile-paintings     .... 
Scale  of  colouring  ..... 
Assyrian  sculptured  reliefs 
Composition  in  Assyrian  sculptured  reliefs 
Remains  of  the  third  Monarchy 
Babylonian  tile-paintings 
Description  of  lost  s]iecimens  . 
Shortcomings  of  Egyptian  and  Assyrian  com 
pared  with  Greek  painting  . 


22 
22 
22 

23 

23 
24 
24 

25 
26 

27 
28 

29 
29 


viu 


CONTENTS. 


BOOK    II. 

PAINTING   IN   ANCIENT   GREECE   AND    ROME. 


PAGE 

35 


35 

36 
36 


CHAPTER   I. 

PRELIMINARY. 

Relation  of  painting  to  sculpture  in  Greece 

Relation  of  existing  remains  to  the  recorded 
masterpieces  of  the  art  ...         . 

History  of  painting  according  to  literary  records 
to  be  separated  from  the  same  history  ac- 
cording to  existing  remains 

History  of  Roman  not  to  be  separated  from 
history  of  Greek  painting     .... 

Distance  between  achievement  of  Greeks  and 

Orientals  greater  in  painting  than  in  sculpture         37 

CHAPTER    II. 

GREEK   AND   ROMAN   PAINTING 
ACCORDING  TO  THE  ANCIENT  WRITERS. 

Origin  of  Greek  painting  ;  probable  derivation 

from  weaving  and  embroidery      .         .  38 

Anecdotes  of  the  ancient  writers       ...  39 
Probable  date  of  the  improvements  attributed  to 

Eumaros  and  Kimon  .....  39 

Polygnotos  ;  his  date  and  career      ...  40 

His  works  at  Athens,  Plataiai,  Thespiai,  Delphi  40 
Pictorial  character  of  the  works  of  Polygnotos 

and  his  school      .  .  .  .  .  .  41 

Their  ethical  and  ideal  character      ...  42 
Judgments   of  the   ancients   concerning    Poly- 
gnotos           43 

Agatharchos  of  Samos,  scene-painter  and  de- 
corator       .......  43 

Agatharchos   the   founder   of  perspective  and 

landscape-painting       .....  44 

Rapidity  of  his  execution  ....  44 

Apollodoros  of  Athens  .  ....  45 

Wall-painting  and  easel-painting      ...  45 

Apollodoros  the  first  complete  painter      .  .  45 

Subjects  of  his  works      .....  46 

Their  character        ......  46 

The   Older   Attic   school   succeeded  sifter  the 

Peloponnesian  wars  by  other  schools    .  .  46 

The  Ionian  school  ;  Zeuxis  of  Herakleia  ;  his 

character  and  career    .....  47 

Subjects  and  style  of  his  works         .  .  47 

Parrhasios  of  Kphesos  ;  his  rivalry  with  Zeuxis  48 

Style  and  character  of  his  works       ...  49 


Testimonies  of  antiquity 

Timanthes  ;  his  picture  of  Iphigeneia 

The  Dorian  school  of  Sik^-on  . 

Eupompos      ...... 

Pamphilos      ...... 

Melanthios     ...... 

Pausias .  ..... 

The  Theban-Attic  school 

Nikomachos  ...,,, 

Aristeides        ....... 

Euphranor      ,...., 

Nikias 

Other  painters  of  the  Hellenistic  Age ;  Apelles ; 
his  career  as  portrait-painter  in  the  service  of 
Alexander ;  his  subsequent  career ;  his  pic- 
ture of  Calumny ;  his  Aphrodite  Anadyomene 

Other  allegorical  and  mythological  works  and 
portraits  by  Apelles     ..... 

Characteristics  and  anecdotes  concerning  Apelles 

Their  general  result  ..... 

Protogenes  ;  his  works  at  Rhodes  and  Athens  ; 
his  character  and  fame  .         .         .         , 

Antiphilos       ...,-.. 

Theon  of  Samos     .,..., 

Aetion   .         .         . 

Helena  .         . 

The  Rhopographi  ;  Peiraiikos 

Exhaustion  of  creative  power  and  individual 
genius  ....... 

Exceptions  ;  Timomachos  ;  his  date  and  cha- 
racter ....... 

Rise  of  landscape-painting        .... 

Demetrios  and  Serapion  .... 

Greek  Painters  at  Rome ;  Ekphantos,  Damo- 
philos,  Gorgasos,  Dionysios,  Laia,  Dorotheos 

Painters  of  Roman  birth  ;  Fabius  Pictor,  Tur- 
pilius,  Titidius  Labeo,  Q.  Pedius,  Amulius 

The  decorator  Ludius,  Studius,  or  Tadius 

Criticisms  and  descriptions  of  jiictures  by  the 
rhetoricians  of  the  Empire    .... 


PAGE 

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50 
51 

51 

51 
52 
52 
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53 
S3 
54 
55 


57 

60 
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62 

62 
63 
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64 

65 
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65 

66 

66 
67 

68 


CHAPTER    III. 

EXISTING  REMAINS VASE-PAINTINGS. 

Figured  vases  ;    their    place  in  ancient   sepul- 
chral furniture     ...... 

Their  number,  origin,  and  forms      ...  70 

Earliest  or  so-called  Pelasgic  ware  .         .         .  71 


CONTENTS. 


IX 


Orientalising  ware  ...... 

Introduction  of  human  figures ;   the  Dodwell 

vase    ....... 

The  Francois  vase  ..... 

The  regular  archaic  or  black-figured  style 
Characters  of  this  ware  :  the  "strong"  style 
Question   between    true   archaic   and   pseudo 

archaic  examples  .... 

Subjects  represented  on  vases  of  tliis  class 
Black-figured    gradually    superseded    by    red 

figured  ware  ..... 
Development   of    the    red-figured    style    from 

severity  to  decline         .        ,. 
Question  whether  red-figured  vases  were  origin 

ally  polychrome  ..... 
Technical  process  of  vase-painting  in  this  style 
Relation  of  the  designs  to  the  works  of  con 

temporary  painting  .... 
Subjects  of  the  designs  .... 
Athenian  funeral  vases  painted  in  colours  on  a 

white  ground 

Post  -  Alexandrian     vases;     the     "rich'     or 

"  Apulian"  style  in  Lower  Italy  . 
Subjects  and  character  of  Apulian  vases  . 
Extinction  of  the  art  of  vase-painting 


71 

72 
73 
74 
74 

76 
76 

77 
78 

78 
80 

80 
80 

80 

82 

83 
85 


CHAPTER    IV. 

EXISTING  REMAINS  CONTINUED 

ENGRAVED  BRONZES, 

MOSAICS,  PAINTINGS  ON  STONE, 

MINIATURES. 

E.NGRAVED  Bronzes 86 

Toilet-cases  and  mirrors  .         .         .         .         .         86 

Their  origin  ;    examples   of  mirrors    found    in 

Greece        .......         86 

Ciitre  or  toilet-cases  found  at  Prreneste  .  .         88 

The  Ficoroni  cista  .....         89 

Designs    on    Etruscan    mirrors  ;    their   artistic 

character  ;  their  sul)jects      .  .  .  ,  90 

Mosaic  ;  invention  and  first  ajiplication  of  the  art         92 
Mosaic    patterns    and    mosaic    pictures  ;    ex-  | 

amples  of  both  found  in.  various  regions        .         93 
Dale  of  the  first   mosaic  pictures  ;    the  oikos 

asaratos  of  .Sosos  .....  93 

The  Capitoline  Doves     .....         94 

Rarity  of  mosaics  applied  to  wall-decoratif)n  ; 
their  frequency  as  applied  to  pavement-deco- 
ration ;  examples  .....  94 


The  Battle  of  Issos  from  the  Casa  del  Fauno, 
Pompeii,  probably  after  a  painting  by  Helena 
of  Alexandria      ...... 

The  Nile  mosaic  at  Palestrina 

Landscape  mosaics  and  other  miscellaneous 
examples     ....... 

Paintings  on  stone  ;  these  the  only  remain- 
ing easel  pictures  of  antiquity 

Paintings  in  red  outline  on  stone  from  Pompeii 

The  Niobe  of  Pompeii     ..... 

The  so-called  Muse  of  Cortona 

The  Amazon  sarcophagus  of  Corneto 

Miniatures  :  the  name  given  to  all  illustrations 
of  MSS 

Preserved  examples  belong  exclusively  to  the 
decadence   ....... 

The  Milan  Homer  ...... 

Two  Virgils  at  the  Vatican      .... 

MSS.  of  Terence  at  the  Vatican,  Paris,  and 
Oxford 

MS.  of  Nikander  at  Paris        .... 

CHAPTER  V. 

EXISTING  REMAINS  CONCLUDED- 
MURAL  PAINTINGS. 

Mural  paintings  in  general       .... 

Etruria       

The  archaic  period  ..... 

Contending  native  and  Greek  influences  . 

Examples  at  Veii,  Caere,  Corneto,  and  Chiusi ; 
extending  probably  from  the  sixth  to  the 
fourth  century  11.  c.       . 

Free  Period  ;  third  century  B.C. 

Native  and  Greek  influences  still  in  rivalry 

Examples  at  Orvieto  and  Vulci 

Tomba  ddF  orco  at  Corneto  ;  its  paintings  bi)tli 
in  the  free  and  in  the  late  or  Etrusco-Roman 
style  ........ 

Other  examples  of  the  Etrusco-Roman  style    . 

Rome  and  its  NKiciiiiouRnooi)  . 

Relative  number  and  importance  of  wall- 
paintings  found  here    ..... 

Account  given  of  liie  art  by  Vitruvius 

Fanciful  style  wliicli  he  condemns  prevalent 
in  existing  remains       ..... 

Paintings  whicli  have  peiished  sini  c  ihcir 
discovery    ....... 

Examples  from  tombs;  from  liatlis  ;  from  villas 

Conclusions  from  them   ..... 

Paintings  still  preserved  in  collections  or  in  situ 


95 
97 

98 

98 
99 
99 
99 
100 

lOI 

101 

lOI 

101 

102 
102 


103 

104 
104 

104 


104 
107 

107 
108 


109 

Id) 

IO<) 

1  ID 
III 

III 

112 
112 
113 
"3 


CONTENTS. 


The  Lateran,  Rospigliosi,  and  Albani  collections 
Vatican  collections ;  the  Aldobrandini  Marriage 

and  the  Odyssey  landscapes 
Fragments  in  foreign  museums 
Roman  wall-paintings  in  situ  ;  villas 
Landscapes  attributed   to   Ludius  at  the    J'i//a 

(j(i  Galliiias  ..... 

Paintings  in  the  house  of  Livia  on  the  Palatin 
New  discoveries  in  the  P'arnesina  Gardens 
General  result         ..... 

Lower  Italy 

Magna  Gnecia ;  Paestum 

The  buried  cities  of  Campania  ;  wall-paintings 

in  situ  and  in  the  Naples  Museum 
Their  abundance    .... 
Their   decorative   character   and   arrangement 

compared  with  the  account  of  Vitruvius 
Division  according  to  decorative  character  an 

arrangement ;  first  group 
Second  group 

Third  group  .... 
Fourth  group 

Fifth  group    .... 
Division  according  to  subject ;  rude  devotiona 

or  ritual  pieces    . 
Mythology  ;  tales  of  the  gods 
Mythology  ;  tales  of  the  heroes 
Daily  life  ;  rade  Romano-Campanian  works 
Daily  life  ;  refined  Hellenistic  works 


PAGE 

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114 

"5 

117 

117 
118 
119 
120 
120 
121 

121 
122 

122 

124 
125 

125 
125 

126 

126 
127 
129 

131 
132 


Caricature   ...... 

Landscape   ...... 

Landscape  with  mythology 

Still  life 

Questions   concerning    the   painters    of    these 

Campanian  wall-decorations 
Their  position         ..... 
Their  nationality     ..... 
Their  technical  methods 
Merit  of  their  works  as  independent  pictures 
As  examples  of  decorative  composition    , 

As  examples  of  decorative  colour 

■r- 

CHAPTER  VI. 


CONCLUSION. 

General  result  of  a  comparison  of  existing 
remains  with  ancient  writings 

Standard  of  perfection  in  painting    . 

Not  approached  by  Oriental  races   . 

But  attained  by  the  Greeks  in  the  period 
between  Polygnotos  and  Apelles 

Greek  deficiencies  in  the  science  of  perspec- 
tive      

And  in  atmosphere  ..... 

Attainments  of  Greeks  in  comparison  with 
those  of  modern  painting     .... 

Decline  of  the  art  . 


PAGE 

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132 

135 
135 

135 
136 
136 

137 
137 
138 
138 


140 

140 
140 

140 

141 
141 

141 
142 


PART    II. 

PAINTING  IN  THE  EARLY  CHRISTIAN  AND  MEDIEVAL  WORLDS. 


BOOK    I. 


CHAPTER    L 

PAINTING    IN    THE   CATACOMBS. 


EARLY   CHRISTIAN    PAINTING. 

Their  construction  , 
Their  furniture 


Attitude  of  the  early  Christians  towards  art  .  1 51 
Early    Christian    art    to   be    best    studied   at 

Rome  and  in  tombs  .  .  .  .  .152 
Origin  of  the  name  Catacombs        .  .  .152 

Purpose  and  history  of  the  Catacombs  ;  their 

re-discovery         .         .         .         .         .         .152 

Some    more    important    than   others    for    the 

history  of  painting 153 


Their  painted  decorations 
Introduction  of  Christian  symbolism 
Pictorial  and  unpictorial  symbols     . 
Christian  significance  given  to  Pagan  motives 

Types  of  Christ 

Type  of  the  Virgin         .... 

Types  of  the  Apostles     .... 

Costume         ...... 

Choice  of    subjects    from   the   Old    and    New 
Testaments         ...... 


153 
153 

153 
154 
154 
154 
156 
156 
156 
157 

157 


CONTENTS. 


XI 


Ritual  or  sacramental  pictures 

Figures  of  grave-diggers  and  other  personages 

Decorative  distribution  and  setting  of  the 
pictures       ....... 

Works  in  S.  Domitilla  ;  S.  Agnes  ;  S.  Lucina 

Arrangement  according  to  formal  and  decora- 
tive rather  than  according  to  mystical  or 
symbolical  correspondence  .... 

Condition,  merits,  and  style  of  the  Catacomb 
paintings    ....... 

Their  cheerfulness  of  spirit       .... 

Drawings  on  gilt  glass     ..... 

Recapitulation  ;  painting  in  tlie  Catacombs  as 
compared  with  contemporary  Pagan  work    . 

General  decline      ...... 


CHAPTER    II. 

MOSAICS. 

Rome  before  a.d.  550    ..... 

Practice  of  mosaic  derived  by  early  Christian 
from  Pagan  Art  ...... 

Examples  in  the  Catacombs    .... 

Mosaic  applied  to  the  interior  decoration  of 
churches     ....... 

Mosaic  designed  and  executed  by  dilTerent  hands 

Purely  ornamental  character  of  Christian  mosaic 
till  after  the  time  of  Constantine  . 

Introduction  of  doctrinal  representations  ;  S. 
Nilus  ....... 

Fine  example  in  Churcli  of  .S'.  Piidentiatia 

Type  of  Christ  in  mosaic  ])ictures    . 

Temporary  revival  of  art  under  Constantine 
and  his  successors        ..... 

Mosaics  at  S.  Sabina      ..... 

Decline  of  the  Classic  spirit  in  Chrislian  Art    . 

Mosaics  in  Santa  Maria  Alaggiore  . 

In  the  Basilica  of  S.  Paul         .... 

Calamities  of  the  fifth  cenluiy  ;  temporary  return 
of  prosperity  under  the  Ostrogothic  rule 

Mf)saics  of  SS.  Cosmas  and  Damian 

Influence  of  antique  sculpture 

Symmetry  (jf  design  ;  ajiproach  of  formalism    . 

Other  examjjles  of  mosaic  in  Milan  and  Naples, 
and  especially  at  Kavknna 

Rome  the  true  centre  of  the  art ;  but  the  Rav- 
enna mosaics  the  more  connected  and  the 
lietter  preserved  ..... 

San  Giovanni  in  Jonte    ..... 


PAGE 
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158 


161 
I  '2 

163 
164 


165 

165 
165 

166 
166 

166 

167 
167 
167 

169 
169 
170 
170 
170 

171 
171 
172 
172 

173 


173 
174 


SS.  Nazarus  and  Celsus 

Xo  sign  of  Arian  heresy  in  mosaics  of  Arian 

Baptistery  (San/a  A/aria  in  Cosnwdin) 
San  Apollinarc  iVuoiio ;    mosaics  both  of  the 

Arian  and  Orthodox  period 
S.  Vitalis  ;  portrait  groups  ;  Bible  pictures 
A  falling-off  from  earlier  work 
Influences  of  barbarism  and  monachism   . 
Growing  monotony  and  rigidity 
Nothing  specifically  Byzantine  in  the  work  of 

this  age  in  Italy  ..... 

Byzantium 

Influences  of  the  Court  and  of  classical  models 

S.  George  of  Thessalonica 

Monastery  of  Mount  Sinai 

Lost  mosaics  of  secular  and  historical  subjects 

Mosaics   of  purely   ornamental   design ;    their 

increasing    frequency  after   the   Iconoclastic 

schism         ....... 

Italy  after  Justinian        .... 

Mosaics  oi  San  Apollinare  in  Classe  at  Ravenna 

Mosaics  of  this  period  at  Rome 

San  Lorenzo  fuor  le  Altira       .... 

S.  Theodore  ....... 

S.  Agnes 

Oratory  of  S.  Venantius  .... 


CHAPTER   III. 

MINIATURES. 

Meaning  of  the  word  miniature 

Antiquity  and  prevalence  of  this  mode  of  de 
corating  MSS.     ..... 

Religious  MSS.  in  particular  . 

Uniform  choice  of  subjects  for  pictures    . 

Dedicatory  pictures         .... 

Ornament       ...... 

Borders  of  the  Eusebian  canons 

Technical  ]irocess  and  mode  of  jiroduclion 

Early  examples  of  Greek  workmanship    . 

The  Vienna  Genesis        .... 

The  Vienna  Dioskorides 

Examples  of  Western  workmanship 

Examples  of  Syrian  workmanship    . 

Introduction  of  the  subject  of  the  Crucifixion 

Iconoclastic  schism  .... 

Consequent  separation  of  the  Greek  and  Latin 
churches,  and  close  of  the  Classical  Period 
of  Early  Chrislian  art  .... 


PAGE 

174 

176 

178 

179 
180 
180 

181 
181 

iSi 

182 
182 

183 


184 
184 
1S4 

185 

1 85 

185 
186 
186 


1 88 

188 
188 
189 
189 
189 
189 
190 
190 
190 
192 
'94 
'94 
194 

'95 


196 


Xll 


CONTENTS. 


BOOK     II. 

MEDIEVAL    PAINTING. 

Section  I. — Early  Period  (about  a.d.  700-950). 


CHAPTER   I 

WESTERN  PAINTING IRISH  AND 

GERMANIC  MINIATURES. 

PAGE 

New  style  arising  from  the  contact  of  barbaric 

with  Roman  elements  ....        201 

No  early  mural  paintings  or  mosaics   left   by 

the  Celtic  or  Germanic  Races       .         .         .201 
But  abundance  of  illuminated  MSS.  .  .        201 

The    Irish    monks  ;    their    skill    in    decorative 

writing        .......       202 

Style  of  these  decorations        ....       202 

Choice  of  ornamental  forms     ....       202 

Human   heads   and   figures  rudely  treated   as 

mere  parts  of  a  pattern         ....       203 

Excellence   of   ornamental   workmanship   not- 
withstanding      ......       203 

Examples  of  Dublin,   Oxford,  Lichfield,  Lam- 
beth, Wiirzburg,  and  S.  Gallen   .         .         .       205 
Style  of  illumination  among  Franks,  Visigoths, 

and  Burgundians  .....       205 

Occasional  combination  of  Irish  with  other  styles       206 
Combination    of    Irish    ornament    and    Early 
Christian    figure-drawing    in    Anglo-Saxon 
style 206 


CHAPTER   II. 

WESTERN  PAINTING THE  CARO- 

LINGIAN  AGE. 

Introductory — Encouragement  of  art  by  Charles 

the  Great 207 

Lost  mosaics  and  mural  paintings  .  .  .  208 
Position  of  Charles  towards  the  question  of  images  208 
Miniatures  ;  style  of  the  Frankish  miniature- 
painters  in  his  age  .....  209 
The  £van£e/iarmm  of  Godesscalc  .  =  .210 
Similar    books    in    Abbeville,    London,    and 

Vienna 210 

Bibles  executed  by  order  of  Alcuin  .         .         .       211 
The  style  culminates  under  Lothair  and  Charles 

the  Bald 212 

Dedicatory   portraits    in    books   prepared   for 

royal  personages  .         .         .         .         .212 


PAGE 

Secular  MSS.  of  this  period  .  .  .  .214 
Instances  in  which  the  Frankish  manner  tends 

to  assimilate  itself  to  the  Irish  .  .  .  214 
MSS.  bearing  the  signature  of  the   scribe  or 

painter        .  .  .  .  .  .  .215 

Geographical  centres  of  the  art        .         .         .       2.15 
Monastery  of  S.  Gallen.         .         .         .         .215 

General  character  of  Frankish  Art  under  Charles 

and  his  successors  .  .  .  .  .216 
Italy;  progressive  degeneracy  of  Rome  .  218 
Artistic  activity  notwithstanding  .  .  .  218 
Lost  mosaics  of  S.  Susanna  and  the  Lateran  .  218 
Mosaics  of  SS.  Nereus  and  Achilles  .  .  219 
Of  S.  Praxedis        .         .  .         .         •  '219 

Oi  Satita  Cecilia  in  Trastevere        .         .         .       219 

OfS.  Mark 219 

Of  S.  Ambrose  at  Milan  ....       219 

Rudeness  of  Italian  miniature-painting  in  this 

ae:e    ........      220 


CHAPTER  III. 

BYZANTINE  PAINTING  AFTER  THE 
CLOSE  OF  THE  ICONOCLASTIC  SCHISM. 


Introductory — Political  revival  in  the  Byzantine 
Empire       ...... 

Desire  to  keep  up  the  classic  spirit  and  to  en 
courage  art  ..... 

Byzantine  art  in  the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries 
superior  to  Italian,  but  incapable  of  further 
advance      ....... 

Miniatures.        ..... 

The  Paris  Sermons  of  Gregory  Nazianzen 

The  Paris  Psalter   ..... 

The  Vatican  Topography  of  Cosmas 

The  Vatican  Life  of  Joshua     . 

The  Paris  Evangeliarium 

Commencement  of  decadence  about  a.d.  iioo 

Psalter  of  Basil  II.  at  Venice  . 

The  Vatican  Menologitim 

Classical  spirit  still  surviving  in  personifications 

Decadence  exemplified  in  MS.  of  S.John  Chry^ 
sostom  written  for  Nikephoros  Botaniates 

Final  ascendency  of  formalism  and  asceticism 


221 


222 


222 
223 
223 
224 
226 
226 
226 
227 
227 
227 
227 

228 
228 


CONTENTS. 


xiu 


New  taste  for  crowded  figures   on   a  minute 
scale  ........ 

New  taste  for  initials  formed  out  of  animals 
Initials  fomied  out  of  hgiire-subjects 
Appearance   of   Western    influence    in    some 

Byzantine  MSS.  of  the  thirteenth  century 
Petrifaction  of  the  art  notwithstanding 
Its  continuance  in  the  same  lifeless  shape 
Other   forms   of  Byzantine   art    in    the   early 
Middle  Age  ;  MOSAICS 

Revival  under  Basil  I 

Lost  mosaics  of  the  Kainom-gion     .         ^ 

S.  Sophia       .         .  .         .         ;         . 

Distribution,  subjects,  and  style  of  the  mosaics 
Their  technical  workmanship  .... 

Mosaics  of  the  declining  period  in  other  Greek 
churches     ....... 

Portable  mosaic  pictures  of  this  period     . 
Examples  at  Paris  and  Florence 
Mechanical  subservience  to  tradition 
Paintings  on  Wall  and  Panel. 
Enamels  and  Textile  Products 
Abundance  and  mechanical  character  of  mural 
paintings  in  churches,  chapels,   and  monas- 
teries   


PAGE 

230 
230 
231 

231 
231 

2'?I 


232 
232 

233 
233 
234 


235 
236 
236 
236 
236 
236 


236 


237 
237 
237 
237 


238 

238 

2.^,8 


239 


Abundance  and  mechanical  character  of  port 

able  paintings  on  panel        ... 
Enamel-painting  ;  not  to  be  here  considered 
Textile  products     ..... 

Their  abundance  and  dissemination 
The  Monk  Dionysios  and  The  Mount  Athos 
Handhook        ...... 

Manuel  Panselinos ...... 

Subjects  of  the  first  division  of  the  Handbook 
Whole  range  of  sacred  subjects  enumerated  in 
second  division    ...... 

Narrative    pictures    from    the    Old    and    New 

Testaments  ......       239 

Kxhibitive  and  symbolical  groups  and  single  figures  239 
Ceremonial  pictures        .....       240 

Allegorical  pictures         .....       240 

Third  Division  of  the  Handbook  ;  disposition 

of  several  classes  of  pictures  .         .         .       241 

Influence  of  Byzantine  Art  abroad       .      241 
Mohammedan  races        .         .         .         .         .241 

Races  converted  to  Christianity        .         .         .       241 
Slavonic  races,  especially  Russia      .          .          .        242 
Various  epochs  of  Russian  popular  art     .         .       242 
Its  servile  and  unchanged  character  at  the  pre- 
sent day 243 


BOOK    II. 

MEDIEVAL   PAINTING. 

Section  II. — Central  or  Romanesque  Period  (about  a.d.  950-1250). 


CHAPTER    I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

General  character  of  this  period  .  ,  .251 
Origin  of  the  name  Romanesque  .  .  .251 
Excellence  of  architecture  .  .  .  .251 
Relative  inferiority  of  sculpture  and  painting  .  251 
Inadequate  resources  of  these  arts  throughout 

tlie  Middle  Age 252 

Comparative  skill  of  Western  and  Byzantine 

Artists 253 

Progress,  consequent  upon  the  revival  of  archi- 
tecture, from  a  Rude  to  a  Severe  style  in  the 

other  arts 253 

Relative  share  of  laymen  and  ecclesiastics   in 

the  practice  of  the  arts         ....       254 
Position  of  the  Cluirch  towards  art  .         .       254 

Spirit  of  the  monkish  artists    ....        254 


Influence  of  the  Court  next  to  that  of  the  Church  255 
Tradition  of  artistic  training  in  monasteries ; 

the  Schcdiila  of  Theophilus  .         .         .       255 

Other  extant  treatises  .....  256 
Division    of    subject    according    to    teclinical 

varieties,  and  not  according  to  nationality  .  256 
Amid  the  unity  of  Christendom  Germany  at 

this  period  has  the  pre-eminence  .         .       256 


CHAPTER    II. 

miniatures. 

Germany  before  a.d.  1050,  especially  the 
Sa.xon  Court;  intellectual  revival  under 
Otlio  I.  ;  corresponding  revival  of  llie  manual 
arts    , 257 

Examples  of  the  debased  condition  of  average 

miniature-i)ainling  in  the  tenth  century  -       258 


XIV 


CONTENTS. 


Example  of  a  better  class  of  work  under  classical 
influence     ....... 

Conspicuous  improvement  due  to  encourage- 
ment of  Saxon  Court  ..... 

Italian  influence  discernible  in  new  style 

Influence  derived  from  intercourse  and  rivaliy 
with  Byzantium  ...... 

Examples  of  the  new  taste  in  the  libraries  of 
Paris,  Gotha,  Munich,  and  Trier 

Appearance  of  Greek  inscriptions  in  these  MSS.,' 
but  not  on  that  account  the  work  of  Greek  hands 

Character  of  their  decorative  designs 

Character  of  their  figure  designs 

List  of  subjects  illustrated  in  the  three  Gospel- 
books  of  Munich,  Gotha,  and  Trier    . 

Later  MSS. illustratingthesame movement ;  gos- 
pel-books written  for  the  Emperor  Henry  II. 

Other  examples  from  Cologne,  Hildesheim,  etc. 

Example  from  Regensburg      .... 

Other  MSS.  painted  for  Henry  II. 

Gospel-book  of  Henry  IV.  at  Cracow 

Decline  of  miniature-painting  wiih  decline  of 
Empire        ...•••• 

France  ;  French  miniature-painting  compara- 
tively rude  in  this  age  .... 

Examples  from  Auxerre  and  Noailles 

Examples  from  Limoges  and  S.  Sever     . 

Rigid  style  prevalent  till  near  the  close  of 
twelfth  century    ....•• 

Spain  ;  crude  style  akin  to  the  Irish  and  early 
Frankish  long  prevalent       .... 

Assimilation  to  Southern  French  style  in 
thirteenth  century 

England  ;  influence  of  Carolingian  work  from 
the  ninth  centuiy  ;  new  and  improved  Anglo- 
Saxon  style 

Character  of  this  style  ;  examples    . 

Examples  of  a  Special  school  at  Winchester    . 

Transformation  of  this  style  after  the  Norman 
Conquest    ....... 

The  Netherlands  ;  character  of  Nether- 
landish work  determined  chiefly  by  German 
and  in  a  less  degree  by  French  and  English 
influence     .....•• 

Examples       ....... 

Germany   after  a.d.    1050;  degeneracy  of 
German  work  at  this  date    .... 
Popular  and  provincial  schools 
Example  of  Bohemian  work   .... 
Revival  under  the  house  of  Hohenstaufen 

The  destroyed  Hortus  Deliciariim  of  the  Abbess 
Herrad  of  Landsperg 


I'AGE 
260 

260 
260 

260 

260 

261 

261 
263 

265 

269 
271 
271 

273 
274 

275 

276 
276 

277 

277 
278 
279 


279 
279 
280 

281 


282 
282 

283 
283 
283 
284 

284 


Example  from  Bruchsal 

Example  from  Salzburg  . 

Examples  from  Saxony  . 

From  Brunswick    .... 

Thirteenth  century  ;  appearance  of  a  new  taste 

in  figures 

New  taste  in  initials 

Introduction  of  fantastic  motives 

Their  place,  origin,  and  significance 

MSS.  containing  pen-drawings  only 

Illustrated  MSS.  of  profane  poetry 

MSS.  executed  by  the  monk  Conrad  of  Scheiern 

Division   of  labour   between   scribe   and   illu 

minator      ...... 

The  scribe  Heldebert  and  the  mouse 


PACK 

287 
287 
288 
289 

290 
290 

293 
293 
294 

295 
295 

297 
297 


CHAPTER  III. 

PAVEMENTS,  TEXTILE  PRODUCTS,  PAINT- 
INGS ON  WALL  AND  PANEL. 

Mosaic  ;  employed  in  this  age  for  pavements 

only  .....          ...  299 

Germany  ;  crypt  of  S.  Gereon  at  Cologne        .  299 

France  ;  Church  of  Cruas       ....  299 

Various  substitutes  for  stone  mosaic         =         .  300 
Textile   Products  ;     Byzantine  works  and 

Northern  imitations     .....  300 

The  Bayeux  Tapestry ;  its  subject  .         .         -  300 

Its  character  .......  301 

Subjects  from  Marcianus  Capella,  etc.      .         .  303 
Mural  Paintings;   numerous   in  this   age, 

but  few  remaining         .         .         .         ,         .  303 

Their  technical  method  .....  303 

Their  artistic  character  .....  304 

Their  subjects  more  and  more  exclusively  re- 
ligious        .......  304 

Examples ;  Schwarzrheindorf          .         .         .  304 

Brauweiler 305 

Soest ;  Liigde  ;  Methler ;  Miinster         .         .  307 

Halberstadt;  Goslar      .....  308 

Brunswick 308 

Regensburg  ;  Perschen ;  Forchheim ;  Prague  309 
Examples  in  Austria ;  Lambach ;  the  Cathedral 

at  Gurk 309 

Wall-Paintings  of  this  period  less  common  in 
France ;  examples  at  Liget,  Poitiers,  and  S. 

Savin          ......  311 

Holland;    Wall-paintings  of  the  demolished 

church  of  Gorkum 31 1 

Paintings  on  Timber  Roofs  and  Panels  ; 

formerly  numerous,  but  few  remaining          .  311 


CONTENTS. 


XV 


Oldest  examples  at  Zillis  in  Switzerland  . 
Ceiling  of  S.  Michael's  Church,  Hildesheim    . 
Introduction  of  painted  panels  or  aiilepettdia 

for  altar-fronts     ...... 

Examples    from    Soest,    Liin,    Worms,    and 

Cologne      ....... 


CHAPTER   IV. 

PAINTINGS   ON   GLASS. 

Introduction  of  glass-painting 

Its  origin  ;  question  of  priority  between  France 

and  Germany      ..... 
Its  technical  methods 
Its  decorative  style  and  treatment   . 
Eleventh-century  windows   at    Augsburg  and 

Wenweiler  ..... 

Eleventh-century  windows  at  Le  Mans    . 
Twelfth-century  windows    at   Angers   and   St 

Denis  ...... 

Twelfth-centurv    windows    at     Chartres     and 
Vendome  ...... 

Windows  of  the  same  period  at  Canterbury 
Later  examples  at  Strassburg  and  elsewhere  in 

Germany    .         .  .... 

Grisaille  system  of  glass -painting  adopted  to 

conform  with  the  Cistercian  rule  ;  examples 

in  France,  Germany,  and  Switzerland  . 


CHAPTER   V. 

ITALY. 

Introductory  ;  anarchy  of  Italy  in  this  age 

Degeneracy  of  the  clergy 

Cities  and  a  few  monasteries  the  only  homes 

of  art        . 
Character  of  architecture 
Character  of  sculpture  and  painting 
Rude  native  or  Italo-barbarous  style;  eleventh 

century  wall-paintings  at  Rome  . 
Mosaic  pavements  in  North  Italy  . 
Mosaic  pavements  in  South  Italy  . 
Rude  Italian  miniatures;   MSS.  of  the   liymu 

Exultet       ....... 

MS.  poem  in  honour  of  the  Countess  Matilda 
No  improvement  except  that  due  to   Hyz.intine 

influence  ;  relations  of  Hyzantium  and  Italy  . 


PAGE 

312 
312 

314 
314 


316 

319 
317 
317 

318 
319 

319 

321 
321 

321 


322 


324 
325 

325 

325 
326 

326 
326 

327 

327 
328 

328 


Introduction  of  Byzantine  productions  and 
designs  to  Venice        .... 

Bronze  doors  ordered  from  Byzantium  for 
churches  and  monasteries  in  South  Italy  in 
the  eleventh  centurv     ..... 

But  manufactured  by  native  Italian  masters 
in  the  twelfth 

Stimulus  given  to  art  by  Desiderius,  Abbot 
of  Monte  Cassino  ..... 

Nothing  left  of  the  monastery  as  embellished 
by  his  order         ...... 

Extant  remains  of  this  Age  ;  Lower  Italy    . 

Wall -Paintings  of  San  Angela  in  Formis  at 
Capua  ....... 

Probably  executed  by  Italians  under  Greek 
influence     ....... 

Wall-Paintings  at  Foro  Claudio,  Calvi,  and 
Barletta 

Rarity  of  pictures  in  glass  mosaic 

Frequency  of  decorations  in  marble  mosaic  ; 
their  analogy  with  similar  work  at  Rome 

Rome  a.nu  Central  Italy;  revival  of  glass 
mosaic  in  the  twelfth  century 

Mosaic  pictures  in  church  of  S.  Clement 

Of  Santa  Maria  m   Trasteverc 

Of  San  I  a  A/aria  Nuova  ... 

Style  of  these  mosaics 

Evidence  in  them  of  Byzantine  influence,  per- 
haps communicated  from  Lower  Italy  . 

Mosaics  of  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury in  and  about  Rome       .... 

Mosaic  of  the  Cathedral  of  Spoleto  . 

Other  and  ruder  mosaics  of  the  same  class 

Panel-paintings,  and  especially  cnicifixes,  under 
Byzantine  influence      ..... 

Sicily;  assimilation  of  Greek  and  Arab 
elements  ;  industries  of  silk  and  weaving 

Embroidered  imperial  robes  of  Sicilian  manu- 
facture        ....... 

The  art  of  mosaic  under  the  Norman  dynasty ; 
]>alace  of  Roger  I.  at  Palermo 

The  Cappclla  Palatina    ..... 

The  Cathedral  of  Monreale      .... 

( "liaractcr  of  these  mosaics       .... 

Total  decline  of  ait  m  .Sicily  in  the  thirteenth 
century        ....... 

Venice  ;  her  leaning  towards  Byzantine  art 

The  mosaics  of  S.  Mark's ;  their  rich  but 
heterogeneous  character        .... 

Mosaics  at  Murano  and  Torcello 

Mosaics  at  Trieste  and  Pareiizo 

Conclusion      ....... 


330 


331 


331 


334 

334 

334 
334 

335 

335 
335 

336 

33S 

338 
339 
339 

339 

340 

340 

341 
341 
343 

343 

344 
344 

344 
345 

345 
340 


XVI 


CONTENTS. 


BOOK     II. 

MEDIAEVAL    PAINTING. 

Section  III.-    Final  or  Gothic  Period  (about  a.d.  1250-1400). 


CHAPTER   I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

PAGF 

Transformation  of  art  in  the  thirteenth  century  355 
The    Romanesque  age  an  age  of  German  as- 
cendency ;  the  Gothic,  of  French          .         .  355 
Unbroken    spiritual    unity    of    Christendom ; 

Church,  knighthood,  and  bourgeoisie    .         .  356 
Art  passes  from  the  hands  of  the  priests  into 

those  of  the  trade  corporations     .          .          .  356 
The  Confraternity  and  the  Guild      .         .         -357 

Scope  allowed  to  individual  treatment      .         .  358 

Limits  set  to  individual  self-assertion        .  358 

New  spirit  of  civic  energy  and  life  .         .         .  358 

Of  scholastic  subtlety  and  ingenuity          .          .  359 

Of  human  symi^ithy  and  affection    .         .         .  359 
Expression  of  sentiment  the  great  aim  of  Gothic 

painting       .......  359 

The  studies  of  Gothic  painters  ;    the    sketch- 
book of  Villard  de  Honnecourt     .          .          .  359 
Predilection    of    Gothic    painting    for    flowing 
forms,  swaying  movements,  and  sentimental 
tenderness  .         .         .         .         .         .         .3^° 

Its  reflection  of  chivalrous  and  feminine  ideals  .  360 

Its  introduction  of  jest  and  mockery          .          .  360 
Tendency  of  these   characters  towards   exag- 
sreration   in    the    course   of    the   fourteenth 

century        .......  3^^ 

Signs  of  an  incipient  and  incongruous  realism  .  361 

Attempts  to  represent  tlie  third  dimension        .  361 

CHAPTER   11. 

MINIATURES. 

French   School  until   1350;  The  art  of 

illuminating  as  practised  at  this  time  in  Paris  362 

Technical  characteristics  ....  363 

Style  of  figures,  faces,  and  borders    .         .         .  363 

Examples  of  transition  to  the  new  style     .         .  364 
Of  the  new  stjle  fully  worked  out ;  Psalter  of 

S.  Louis      .  .....  364 

Tarther  developments  in  the  fourteenth  century  364 

Bibles  histori.'es        ......  365 

Life   of  S.    Denis   illuminated   for    Philip    the 

Long 367 


PAGE 

Introduction  of  drokries  into  the   borders  of 

religious  MSS.     .         .         .  .         .367 

Illuminated    MSS.    of   secular   and   legendary' 

subjects       .......       368 

Influence  of  French  illumination  upon  English        369 
Germany  until  a.d.  1350;  German  minia- 
ture-painting at  this  time  influenced  by  but 
inferior  to  French         .....       369 

Early  examples       .         .         .         .         .         -370 

Later    examples ;      illustrated     collections     of 

i^Z/ww^/zV^/iT ;  increasing  French  influence      .       371 
MSS.  of  the  Biblia  Paiipcnim  and  other  Bible 

illuminations        .         .         .         .         .         -372 

MS.   Passio)tale  written  for  the  abbess  Kuni- 

gunde  of  Prague  .....        374 

French  School  after  1350 ;  first  attempts 

at  complete  pictorial  treatment     .         .         .       374 
Encouragement  of  the  art  by  Court  and  Royal 

princes 375 

Names  of  the  artists  ;  frequently  Flemish         .       376 
Early  examples  of  this  Franco-Flemish  work 

executed  for  the  French  princes   .         .         ,       376 
More  advanced  examples         ....       377 

The  Livre  des  merveilles  du  vionJc  .         .         .       377 
MSS.  from  the  Libran,-  of  the  Due  de  Perri ; 

Bible,  Hour-book,  and  Psalter    .         .         .378 
Characteristics  of  these  works  ;  their  choice  of 

subjects      .......       380 

O  ffice  of  the  Virgin  at  the  BibliotJieque  Mazarine  381 
Prayer-book   in    the   collection    of    the    Due 

d'Aumale -       381 

Translations  from  the  Italian  ;  classical  subjects  382 
Sketch-book  of  Jacques  Daliwes  .  .  ,  382 
English  work  at  this  time  ;  its  subservience  to 

the  French 382 

Germany  after  a.d.   1350 ;  new  school  at 
Prague  under  patronage  of  Charles  X.  and 

his  Court 382 

Character  of  this  school 383 

Examples  at  Prague        .....       383 

Patronage  continued  by  Emperor  Wenzel ;  ex- 
amples at  Menna  .....       385 

Their  character       ......        385 

Their  reference  to  the  person  and  habits  of  the 

Emperor     .......       386 

Missal  of  Sbinco  Hasen  von  Hasenberg  .         .       386 


CONTENTS. 


XVI I 


MSS.  executed  for  the  Austrian  Court     . 
Inferiority  of  average  productions  in  this  age 


CHAPTER   III. 

PAINTINGS  ON  GLASS. 

Painting  an  art  of  popular  appeal  only  as  ap- 
plied to  architecture     ..... 

Increasing  importance  of  painted  windows  in 
the  Gothic  style  :  their  distribution  and  de- 
corative plan       ...... 

Examples  ;  Chartres  ;  story  of  the  Prodigal  Son 

General  leaning  towards  the  familiar  and  realistic 

Transept  windows  at  Chartres 

Windows  in  other  cathedrals  of  Northern  and 
Central  France    ...... 

Somewhat  inferior  work  in  Southern  France    . 

French  Switzerland  and  the  Duchy  of  Bur- 
gundy        ....... 

England         ....... 

Germany        ....... 

Change  of  style  and  introduction  of  architec- 
tural forms  into  glass-pictures 

Beautiful  examples  in  Cologne  Cathedral 

Windows  of  Strassburg  Cathedral  . 

Other  examples  in  various  parts  of  Germany    . 

France ;  glass  of  this  period  most  frequent  in 
Southern  cathedrals  ;  in  use  also  for  private 
houses         ....... 

Technical  advances  of  glass-painting  in  the 
fourteenth  century       ..... 

In  the  fifteenth       ...... 

At  the  Renascence  ;  glass-painting  violates  its 
true  conditions  as  it  becomes  more  elaborate 
and  accomplished 


PAGE 
386 


388 

389 
391 

391 

391 

391 
392 
392 

392 
393 
394 
394 


395 

396 
396 


396 


CHAPTER  IV. 

PAVEMENTS,  TEXTILE  PRODUCTS,  PAINT- 
INGS OX  WALL  OR  PANEL. 

Pavements  ;   unimportant  character  of  their 

decorations  in  this  age         ....       398 

Mural  Paintings  :  little  place  for  them  in 
developed  Gothic  style  ;  scanty  remains  in 
France        .......       398 

Encouraged  by  the  Court  in  England  ;  existing 

remains  inconsiderable  ....        399 


Frequent  but  of  coarse  execution  in  Germany 

Character  of  German  mural  paintings 

E.xamples  from  the  thirteenth  century 

From  the  fourteenth  ;  Ramersdorf  . 

Cologne         ....... 

Upper  Rhine  and  German  Switzerland    . 

Fanaticism  and  religious  terror 

Personifications  of  Death  in  painting 

Painting  in  private  dwellings  ;  subjects  of 
chivalry      ....... 

Examples,  Castle  of  Runkelstein     . 

Textile  Products  ;  tapestries  and  painted 
cloths  for  secular  use   ..... 

Tapestries  and  embroideries  for  Church  use    . 

Paintings  on  Wood  in  General;  origin 
and  use  of  the  painted  Altar-shrine 

Technical  methods  of  painting  on  panel  . 

Examples  rare  before  a.d.  1350  ;  more  frequent 
afterwards  ....... 

School  of  Prague  ;  foreign  artists  in  em- 
ploy of  Charles  IV.     ..... 

Mosaic  in  Prague  Cathedral    .... 

Wall-Paintings  in  KatharittcncapcUe  and  Mon- 
astery of  S.  Jerome      ..... 

Question  as  to  their  origin       .... 

Other  wall  -  paintings  ;  possibly  the  work  of 
Nicolaus  Wurmser  of  Strassburg 

Local  school  at  Prague ;  paintings  in  Kreuz- 
capelle  ;  their  subjects  and  character     . 

Their  authorship  ;  Magister  Theodoriciis 

Other  analogus  works     ..... 

School  of  Cologne  ;  its  sentimental  and  en- 
thusiastic spirit  in  contrast  with  the  austere 
spirit  of  the  Prague  school  .... 

Magister  Wilhclmus       ..... 

Character  and  sentiment  of  this  School    . 

Its  correspondence  with  the  religious  mysticism 
of  which  Cologne  was  a  centre     . 

Altar-piece  from  church  of  S.  Clare 

Similar  examples  at  Berlin  ;  Munich  ;  Nurem- 
burg  ;  Cologne  Museum       .... 

Idyllic  and  Courtly  Madonnas 

Example  at  Frankfort     ..... 

Remaining  Schools  of  Germany  ;  West- 
phalia ;  Swabia  ...... 

Ilcsse  and  Middle  Uliinciand 

Bavaria  ........ 

Example  in  private  possession  at  Vienna 

Schools  of  France  and  the  Nether- 
lands; tlicir  works  of  this  period  rare,  re- 
sembling those  of  the  Lower  Rhine      . 

Example  in  the  Museum  at  Dijon    . 


399 
399 
400 
400 
401 
401 
402 
402 

403 
403 

404 
404 

405 
405 

406 

406 
406 

407 
408 

40S 

408 
409 
411 


411 
412 
413 

413 
414 

415 
416 

417 

417 
417 
41S 
419 


419 
420 


XVIU 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    V. 
ITALY. 

Introductory ;  It.ily  in  this  age  takes  the  lead 
m  painting,  and  especially  in  mural  painting 
Genius  of  the  Italian  pojnilation 
Political  conditions 
New  life  of  art  ;  its  local  centres 
Social  conditions  . 
CiMABUE   AND    Duccio  ;    revival   of   art    in 

Tuscany  about  a.d.  1250  ;  Niccola  Pisano 
Improvement  of  painting  slower  than  that  o 

sculpture    ..... 
Fanciful  accounts  of  Ghiberti  and  Vasari 
Cimabue  ;  Vasari's  account  here  confirmed  by 

Dante 

Madonnas  of  Cimabue  at  Florence  and  Paris 

His  mural  paintings  at  Assisi  . 

His  mosaic  at  Pisa  ;  and  his  death 

His  minor  Florentine  contemporaries ;  Coppo 

di  Marcovaldo  ;  Andrea  Tafi 
Masters  of  other  cities  ;  Margaritone  of  Arezzo 

Guido  of  Siena    ..... 
Duccio  of  Siena  ;  his  famous  altar-piece  . 
His  style  and  merits        .... 
His  Disciples  Segna  and  Ugolino    . 
Roman 'Mosaics  ;   survival  of  the  traditional 

practice  of  this  art 
Pietro  Cavallini 
Jacobus  Torriti ;    his   Mosaics  at  the   Lateran 

and  Santa  Maria  Maggiore 
Philippus  Rusuti     ..... 
Injured  mosaic  at  Naples 
Giotto  ;    his  contemporary  fame  ;    his  birli 

life,  and  death    ..... 
Literary  evidences  as  to  his  character 
His   early   series    of   frescoes    in    the    Upper 

Church  of  Assisi  .... 

His  works  at  Rome         .... 
In  the  Arena  Chapel  at  Padua  ;  their  date 
Their  subjects 


Their  style  ;  tyjies 


and  proportions 


Draperies 
Composition  . 
Colour  . 
Naturalness   . 
Dramatic  truth  and  energy 
Analogy  with    Dante    in   the   use    of  familiar 
images        ....... 

Traces  of  other  works  at  Padua  and  Ravenna 
Frescoes  in  Lower  Church  at  Assisi 


423 
423 

424 

425 
425 

425 

426 
426 

426 

426 
427 
429 

429 

430 
430 
430 
433 

433 
433 

434 

434 

435 

435 

435 

435 

436 

437 

437 

438 

438 

439 

440 

440 

440 

443 
444 
444 


Marriage  of  S.  Francis  and  Poverty 

Allegory  of  Chastity 

Of  Obedience  .... 

Artistic  character  of  these  allegories 

Other  frescoes  in  Lower  Church 

Lost  works  at  Rimini  and  Naples  . 

Frescoes    at    Florence ;     Bardi    and    Peruzzi 

Chapels 
Paintings  on  panel 
General  relation  of  Giotto  to  his  predecessors 
Pupils  and  Followers  of  Giotto  ;  their 
training  and  traditions  as  described  by 
Cennino 
Method  of  fresco  . 
Method  of  tempera 
Duration  of  apprenticeship 
Trade  organisation 
Taddeo  Gaddi ;  his  altar-pieces  at  Berlin  and 

Siena  .... 

His  frescoes  at  Florence  and  Pisa 
Maso  ;  his  frescoes  at  Florence 
The  less  known  followers  of  Giotto  ;  Stefano 

Giottino,  Puccio  Capanna,  BufFalmacco 
Bernardo  di  Daddo  .... 
Jacopo  da  Casentino  .... 
Giovanni  da  Milano  .... 
Agnolo  Gaddi  ..... 
Orcagna  ;  his  Frescoes  in  Saafa  Maria  iVovella 
His  altar-pieces 
Traini  .... 
Frescoes   of  uncertain    authorship ;    refectory 

of  S.  Croce         ..... 
Spanish  Chapel      ..... 
The  Dominicans  and  their  relation  to  art 
Glory  of  Thomas  Aquinas 
Allegory  of  Church  Government 
Secular  and  civic  allegories ;  lost  examples 
School  of  Siena  ;  Simone  Martini 

His  frescoes  in  the  Public  Palace  at  Siena 

Other  works  at  Assisi,  Naples,  Orvieto,  Pisa, 
Florence,  Liverpool    . 

Simone  at  Avignon 

Lippo  Memmi 

Ambrogio  and  Pietro  di  Lorenzo 

Panels  by  Pietro   at   San  Ansano,   Florence 
Siena,  and  Arezzo 

Frescoes  by  Ambrogio  at  Siena 

Allegory  of  Good  Government 

Allegory  of  Tyranny 

Panels  by  Ambrogio  di  Lorenzo 

Various  Masters  of  the  declining  Sienese  School 

Taddeo  Bartoli       ...... 


444 

445 
446 
446 

447 
447 

447 
448 

450 


450 
451 
451 
45* 
452 

452 
452 
453 

453 
454 
454 
455 
455 
456 
456 
459 

459 
459 
460 
460 
462 
463 
463 
464 

464 

466 
466 
466 

467 

468 
468 
470 
470 
472 
472 


CONTENTS. 


XIX 


The  Campo  Santo  at  Pisa,  and  Expira- 
tion OF  THE  School  of  Giotto  ;  history 
of  the  Campo  Santo    .... 

Errors  of  ^'asari     ..... 

Order  of  execution  of  the  frescoes    . 

Triumph  of  Death ..... 

Last  Judgment  and  Hell 

The  Hermit  Life     ..... 

Story  of  S.  Ranieri  .... 

Stories  of  SS.  Ephysius  and  Hippolytus  . 

Subjects  from  the  Book  of  Genesis . 

Spinello  Aretino  ;   his  frescoes  at  San  Miniato 

Niccola  di  Pietro  Cierino 

Don  Lorenzo  ..... 

Gherardo  Stamina  .... 

Other  Provinces  ok  Italy  ;  frescoes  at 
Naples 

Mosaics  at  Messina         .... 

Umbria  and  the  Marches  :  Ottaviano  Nelli 

Alegretto  Nuzi        ..... 

Weakness  of  the  Bolognese,  Modenese,  and 
Venetian  schools  .... 

Comparative  excellence  of  the  Paduan  and 
Veronese  ;  Altichiero  and  Avanzi 

Their  frescoes  in  Chapel  of  S.  Felice,  Padua 

In  Chapel  of  S.  George  .... 

Guariento       ...... 

MiNl.VTUKES  ;  comparatively  unimportant,  not 
withstanding   their    excellence,    beside    the 
other    productions    of    Italian    art    in    this 
age •         , 


472 
473 
473 
473 
475 
475 
476 

477 
477 
477 
478 
478 
478 

478 
479 
479 
480 

480 

480 
480 
482 
484 


484 


Work  stimulated  in  the  thirteenth  century  by 

French  influence  .....       485 

Independent  and  of  thorouglily  Italian  charac- 
ter by  the  fourteenth  ....       485 
Recorded   names  of  illuminators  ;    Oderigi  of 
Gubbio ;   Franco  of  Bologna ;   Don  Silves- 

tro 486 

Examples  of  their  age  and  spirit,  but  not  of 

their  hands  ......       487 

Bologna  a  chief  seat  of  the  art  .  .  .       487 

Illuminated  MSS.  of  Dante  and  Petrarch         .       488 
Sicilian  fourteenth-century  MSS.     .         .         .       489 

Italian    illuminators  in  the  employ  of  French 

Patrons       .......       489 

Conclusion 490 


CHAPTER   VI. 

THE  MAHOMMEDAX  RACES. 

Art  of  the  East  essentially  decorative       .         .  492 

The  Prophet  concerning  images  .  .  .  492 
Mutual  influence  of  Eastern  and  Wesicrn  arts 

after  Moslem  conquest         ....  492 

Animal  design  in  Arab  embroideries        .         .  493 

Figure  paintings  in  the  Alhambra  .  .  494 
Analogous  representations  first  in  AraV)ic  and 

later  in  Persian  MSS.  ....  495 
Chinese  and  Japanese  painting  not  included  in 

scope  of  present  work          ....  496 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


IN  THE 

FIRST    VOLUME. 


— 1 « » » ( 


1.  King  Rameses  II.  with  his  sons  at  the  storming  of  a  mountain  fortress.     From  a 

rock-cut  chamber  at  Abou-Simbel       ..... 

2.  Building  of  the  Temple  of  Ammon.     From  a  sepulchral  chapel  at  Abd-el-Oma 

3.  Harp-player.      From  an  Egyptian  painting  .... 

4.  Harp-player.      From  an  Egyptian  painting  .... 

5.  Satyrical  representation.*    From  a  papyrus  in  the  British  Museum 

6.  Fragment  of  an  Assyrian  tile-painting      ..... 

7.  Assyrian  relief  ........ 

8.  Sacrifice  of  Iphigeneia.      From  a  Pompeian  wall-painting 

9.  Id  rescued  by  Hermes  from  the  custody  of  Argos.      From  a  wall-painting  in  the 

Palatine  at  Rome      ....... 

I  o.   Greek  vase-painting  of  the  earliest  style.     From  a  vase  found  at  Athens  . 
II.   The  Dodwell  Vase  (Munich)       ...... 

I  2.   Death  of  the  children  of  Priam.     From  a  vase  of  the  black-figured  style  . 

13.  Bowl  for  mixing  wine  (KpaWjp)  ;  red-figured  ware  of  the  archaistic  style    . 

14.  Jar  for  storing  wine  {a-Tajwos)  ;  red-figured  ware  (Munich) 
I  5.   Croesus  on  the  funeral  pile.     From  a  vase  of  red-figured  style  at  Paris     . 

16.  Red-figured  vase  (o^6^a<^oi')  ;  Paris        ..... 

17.  Scene  in  the  Under  world.     From  a  vase  of  the  style  of  Lower  Italy 

18.  Richly  decorated  amphore  ...... 

19.  Engraved  bronze  disk     ....... 

20.  Engraved  mirror  from  Crete        ...... 

21.  Group  of  Argonauts.      From  the  engraved  toilet-case  known  as  the  Ficoroni  Cista 

22.  Etruscan  engraved  hand-mirror  ...... 

23.  Doves  seated  on  a  bowl.     From  a  mosaic  picture  at  the  Capitol  . 

24.  Alexander  and  Darius  at  the  battle  of  Issos.     From  a  mosaic  picture  at  Pompeii 

25.  Niobe.      From  a  picture  on  a  slab  of  marble  at  Pompeii 

26.  Etruscan  wall-painting   ....... 

27.  Human  sacrifice  offered  by  Achilles  to  the  shade  of  Patroklos.     From  an  Etruscan 

wall-painting  ....... 

28.  The  Aldobrandini  Marriage.     From  a  wall-painting  in  the  Vatican 

29.  NcKvta — Landscape  illustration  to  the  Odyssey.     From  a  wall-painting  discovered 

on  the  Esquiline  at  Rome      ...... 

30.  Ritual  Scene.      From  a  wall-painting  at  the  Palatine 

31.  Return  of  a  Warrior.      From  a  wall-painting  found  at  Pivstum 

32.  Pompeian  wall-painting  ...... 


PAGE 

8 

10 

16 

17 
20 
24 
27 
50 

56 
72 

73 
75 
77 
78 
81 

83 
84 

87 
88 
90 
92 

94 

96 

100 

107 

108 
114 

116 
119 
121 
123 


XXll 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


33- 
34. 

35- 
36. 
37- 
38. 
39- 
40. 
41. 
42. 

43- 
44- 

45- 
46. 

47- 

48. 
49- 
50- 
51- 

52. 
53- 

54. 

55- 
56. 

57- 
58. 

59. 
60. 
61. 
62. 

63. 
64. 
65. 
66. 
67. 
68. 
69. 
70. 

71. 

72. 

73- 

74- 

75- 
76. 

77- 
78. 

79- 
80. 


Pompeian  wall-paintiui;  ..... 

Demeter  enthroned.      From  a  Pompeian  wall-painting      .  . 

Nest  of  Cupids.      From  a  Pompeian  wall-painting  ,  . 

Judgment  of  Paris.      From  a  Pompeian  wall-painting 

Death  of  Laokoon.      From  a  Pompeian  wall-painting 

Flight  of  ^neas  ;  a  caricature.      From  a  Campanian  wall-painting 

Landscape.      From  a  Pompeian  wall-painting 

The  Good  Shepherd.      From  a  painting  in  the  Catacomb  of  S.  Agnes 

Moses.     From  a  painting  in  the  Catacomb  of  S.  Agnes    . 

Gravedigger.      From  a  painting  in  the  Catacombs 

Decoration  of  a  roof.      Catacomb  of  S.  Domitilla 

Decoration  of  a  roof.      Catacomb  of  S.  Lucina     . 

Mosaic  picture.      Church  of  Santa  Pudenziana    . 

Mosaic  picture.      Church  of  SS.  Cosmas  and  Damian 

The   Good  Shepherd.      From  a  mosaic  picture  in  the  sepulchral  chapel  of  Galla 

Placidia  at  Ravenna  ..... 

Plan  of  Mosaic  decorations.      From  Church  of  S.  Vitalis,  Ravenna 
Justinian,  Theodora,  and  attendants.     From  a  mosaic  picture  at  S.  Vitalis,  Ravenna 
Mosaic  picture.      From  Church  of  S.  George  at  Thessalonica 
Mosaic  picture.      From  Church  of  S.  Agnes  at  Rome 
Joseph  and  Potiphar's  wife.      From  a  MS.  of  Genesis  at  Vienna  . 
The  discovery  of  the  herb  Mandragora.      From  a  MS.  of  Dioskorides  at  Vienna 
S.  John  the  Evangelist.      From  the  Gospel-book  of  Maeiel  Brith 
Decorated  initial.      From  a  MS.  at  Laon 

Decorated  initial.     From  a  Bible  of  Charles  the  Bald  at  Paris 
Figure  of  Christ.      From  a  Gospel-book  of  Charles  the  Great  at  Paris 
The  Emperor  Lothair.      From  a  Gospel-book  at  Paris 

Army  going  out  against  the  Syrians.      From  the  Golden  Psalter  at  S.  Gallen 
The  Prophet  Ezekiel.     From  a  MS.  of  Gregory  Nazienzen  at  Paris 
David  as  a  Shepherd.     From  a  Psalter  at  Paris 
The  Emperor  Nikephoros  Botaniates.      From  a  MS.  of  S.  John   Chrysostom  at 

Paris  ....... 

Decorated  initial  . 

Mosaic  picture.     From  entrance  of  S.  Sophia,  Constantinople 

The  Archangel  Michael.      From  Church  of  S.  Sophia,  Constantinople 

Death  of  Pompey.      From  a  MS.  of  Lucan  at  S.  Gallen  . 

Nations  doing  homage  to  the  Emperor.      From  a  Gospel-book  at  Munich 

The  Emperor  Otho  II L      From  a  Gospel-book  at  Munich 

S.  Mark.      From  the  Codex  Aicreiis  at  Paris 

The  Emperor  Henr>'  II.      From  a  missal  at  Nuremberg 

Christ  on  the  Cross.      From  a  Gospel-book  at  Niedermiinster 

Crucifixion.      From  an  Evangeliarium  at  Berlin 

Ascension.      From  the  Betiedictionale  of  Aethelwold 

David.      From  the  Psalter  of  Notker  Labeo  at  S.  Gallen 

Last  Supper.      From  an  Evangeliarium  at  Wischerode    . 

Allegorical  figure   of  Pride.      From  the  lost  MS.  of  the  Hortus  Deliciarwn  by  the 

Abbess  Herrad  of  Landsberg  .... 

Annunciation.      From  an  EvangeliariutH  at  Bruchsal 
Calendar.      From  the  Psalter  of  Landgraf  Hermann  at  Stuttgart 
Decorated  initial.      From  a  Psalter  at  Paris 
Decorated  initial.      From  a  Mater  Verborum  at  Prag 


PAGE 
24 
[27 
39 

30 
31 

^33 

34 

55 
58 

59 
[60 
[61 
i68 

[72 

/5 
178 
78 

83 
86 

91 

[93 
204 

205 

209 

21 1 

213 

217 

224 

225 

229 

231 

234 

235 
259 

262 

263 

264 

270 

273 
275 
281 
283 

2S5 

286 
288 

291 
292 

293 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS.  xxiii 


PAGE 
296 

298 

^02 


81.  The  Wise  \'irgins.      From  a  MS.  at  Prague      .... 

82.  Scribe  and  illuminator  at  work.      From  a  MS.  at  Prague 

83.  Normans  felling  timber  and  building  ships.      From  the  Bayeux  tapestry 

84.  Christ  between  the  Apostles  and  Evangelists.      From   the  apse  of  the  Lower 

Church  at  Schwarzrheindorf  ..... 

85.  Samson  victorious  over  the   Philistines.      From  the  roof  of  the  chapter-house  at 

Brauweiler  ........        2,^7 

86.  Wall-painting.      From  the  Cathedral  at  Gurk     .  .  .  .  .310 

87.  Painting.      From  the  roof  of  S.  Michael's  Church  at  Hildesheim  .  .        313 

88.  The   Maries   at  the   tomb.      From   an   antependium   or  painted  altar-front   from 

Soest  .  .  .  .  .  .314 

89.  King  David.     From  a  window  in  Augsburg  Cathedral  .  .  -319 

90.  Window.      From  the  Cathedral  of  S.  Denis        .  .  .  .  .320 

91.  Figure  of  Henr>^  L  in  west  window  of  Strassburg  Minster  .  .  .        323 

92.  Illuminative  page.      From  a  MS.  in  the  Vatican  library  of  a  poem  by  Donizo  in 

honour  of  the  Countess  Matilda        ......        329 

93.  Plan  of  wall-painting  at  .V^;;;  ^//^'•t'/t' z« /v^rw/j- (Last  Judgment)  .  .        2>;^2> 

94.  Mosaic  picture.      Yxoxn  the.  a^se.  oi  Santa  Maria  Nteova,  'Rome  .  .        337 

95.  Mosaic.      From  the  Capella  Palatino,  Palermo  .  .  .  .342 

96.  Letter  B.      From  the  Psalter  of  S.  Louis  .  .  .  .  -365 

97.  Death  of  S.  Benedicta.      From  the  Treasure-book  of  Origny       .  .  -        366 

98.  Caricatures.      From  the  border  of  a  French  MS.  Bible  at  Stuttgart         .  .        368 

99.  Travellers  at  sea.      From  a  MS.  of  Tristan  at  Munich  ....        370 

100.  Conradin  going  out  hawking.      From  a  MS.  collection  of  Minneleider  at  Paris    .        371 

1 01.  Parable  of  the  robbers.     From  the /'^^■^■/(jwa/^  of  the  Abbess  Kunigunde  .        2>7Z 

102.  Border.      From  great  Psalter  of  the  Due  de  Berri  .  .  .  -37  5 

103.  Birth  of  the  Virgin.      ?'rom  the  Grandes  Heurcs  of  the  Due  de  Berri       .  .        379 

104.  Caricature.      From  the  Grandes  Heures  of  the  Due  de  Berri       .  .  .        380 

105.  Annunciation.      From  the  .i'J/^?/^*?/.?  of  Archbishop  Arnestus  of  Prague      .  .        384 

106.  Ornament.      From  the  Bible  of  the  Emperor  Wenzel  at  Vienna  .  .        385 

107.  Story  of  the  Prodigal  Son.      From  a  painted  window  in  the  Cathedral  at  Chartres        390 

108.  Painted  window  at  Konigsbeden  ......        393 

109.  King  Charles  of  Provence.      From  a  window  in  Strassburg  Cathedral     .  .        395 
I  10.  Angels.      From  a  painting  formerly  in  the  roof  of  the  church  at  Ramersdorf        .        400 

111.  Angel  driving  back  the  souls  of  the  condemned.      From  a  painting  formerly  in 

the  roof  of  a  church  at  Ramersdorf  .  .  .  .  .  .401 

1 12.  S.  Augustine.      From  a  painting  on  wood,  probably  by  Master  Dietrich  at  Vienna        410 

113.  Annunciation.      From  an  altar-piece  of  the  Clares  in  Cologne  Cathedral  .        414 

114.  Madonna  with  the  bean-flower,  Cologne  Museum  .  .  .  •        4i5 

115.  Madonna  and  Saints.      P'rom  a  painting  in  the  Town  Museum  at  Frankfort        .        4'6 

116.  Madonna  and  Cliild  with  S.  Elizabeth  and  S.  John.      From  a  picture  in  private 

possession  at  X'icnna  .  .  .  .  .  .  .419 

1 17.  Madonna  known  as  the  Madonna  di  Ruccllai.     From  a  painting  by  Cimabue  in 

Santa  Maria  Novella.,  Florence         .  .  .  .  .  .428 

118.  Madonna  and  Child  with  Angels.      From  the  altar-piece  of  Duccio  in  the  Cathe- 

dral at  .Siena  .  .  .  .  .  .  •  -43' 

119.  Burial  of  the  Virgin.      From  the  altar-piece  of  Duccio  in  tlie  Cathedral  at  Siena        432 

120.  Joachim  with  the   Shepherds.      From  a  fresco  by  (".iotlo  in  the  Arena  Chajiel 

at  Padua     ......•••        439 

121.  Presentation  of  tlie  Virgin  in  the  rcmplc.      From  a  fresco  by  (iiotto  in  the  Arena 

Chapel  at  Padua      .  .  .  •  •  •  •  -44' 


xxiv  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 


122.  Resurrection  of  Lazarus.      From  a  fresco  by  Giotto  in  the  Arena  Chapel  at  Padua        442 

123.  Marriage  of  S.  Francis  to  Poverty.      From  a  fresco  by  Giotto  in  the  Lower  Church 

at  Assisi      .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .445 

I  24.  Allegory  of  Obedience.      From  a  fresco  by  Giotto  in  the  Lower  Church  at  Assisi        446 

125.  The  head  of  John  the  Baptist  brought  to  Herod.      From  a  fresco  of  Giotto  in 

the  Peruzzi  Chapel,  S.  Croce,  Florence  .....        449 

1 26.  Christ  and  Mary  enthroned.      From  a  fresco  by  Orcagna  in  Santa  Maria  Novella, 

Florence     .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  -457 

127.  Glory  of  S.  Thomas  Aquinas.     From  an  altar-piece  by  Traini  at  Pisa     .  .        458 

128.  Allegorical  and  historical  figures.      From  a  fresco  of  the   Glory  of  S.  Thomas 

Aquinas  in  the  Spanish  Chapel,  Florence      .  .  .  .  .461 

129.  Madonna  and  Child  with  Saints.      From  a  fresco  by  Simone  Martini  in  the  Public 

Palace,  Siena  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .465 

1 30.  Allegory  of  Good  Government.      From  a  fresco  by  Ambrogio  di   Lorenzo  in  the 

Public  Palace,  Siena  .......       469 

131.  Head  of  Concordia.      From  the  above  fresco  of  Good  Government  by  Ambrogio 

di  Lorenzo .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .471 

132.  The  Triumph  of  Death.      From  the  fresco  at  the  Campo  Santo,  Pisa      .  .        474 

133.  The  miraculous  Release  of  S.  George.     From  a  fresco  by  Altichiero  Avanzi  in  the 

Chapel  of  S.  George  at  Padua  .  .  .  .        -     .  .483 

134.  S.  George  and  the  Dragon.      From  a  fourteenth  century  MS.  in  the  archives  of 

S.  Peter's  at  Rome  ........        488 

135.  Lions  and  Camels.     From  a  German   Imperial  embroidered  robe  of  Arab  work- 

manship at  Vienna  .......        493 

136.  Hunting  and  pleasure  scenes.     From  a  painting  in  the  roof  of  the  Alhambra      .       495 


PART    1 


PAINTING   IN   THE   ANCIENT    WORLD 


BV 


KARL    WOERMANN. 


BOOK    I. 

PAINTING  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT  AND  THE  EAST. 


B 


CHAPTER    I. 

EGYPT. 

Nature  ot  the  Art  of  Painting — Earliest  monuments  of  known  date — Egypt  :  its  geography  and  history — 
Variations  of  style  in  the  Old,  Middle,  and  New  Kingdoms — Architectural  aspect  of  ancient  Egypt — 
Relations  of  Painting  and  Relief  Sculpture  in  Egyptian  art — Absence  of  perspective  in  Egyptian 
painting — Various  modes  of  compensating  for  absence  of  perspective — General  system  of  composition 
— Canon  of  human  form — Deficiency  of  individual  character  ;  skill  in  portraying  movement ;  use 
of  symbolism — Deficiency  of  facial  expression — Treatment  of  animals — Treatment  of  vegetation — 
Treatment  of  water — System  of  colouring  in  Egyptian  painting — Division  of  labour  ;  technical  methods 
—  Character  of  the  results — Religious  subjects — Domestic  subjects — Landscape — Various  forms  of 
painting  in  Egypt — Illustrated  MSS. — Caricature — General  character  recapitulated. 

Miraculous  is  the  power  of  painting,  which  on  a  flat  surface  of  limited  size 
can  represent,  even  to  ilhision,  all  the  spacious  world  with  its  wealth  of  forms 
and  colours.  Whatever  towers  aloft  to  heaven  and  whatever  clings  humbly  to 
the  earth — whatever  stands  near  and  large  as  well  as  whatever  dwindles  remote 
and  small — the  blackest  darkness  and  the  brightest  light — all  these  painting 
is  able  to  grasp  within  the  four  corners  of  a  frame,  or  to  fling  down  upon  a 
sheet  of  paper  which  a  breath  may  blow  away. 

The  secret  of  these  miracles  lies,  as  we  all  know,  in  the  natural  construction 
of  the  human  eye,  on  the  retina  of  which,  as  on  a  plane  surface,  the  objects 
of  sight  image  themselves  side  by  side.  Thus,  in  the  words  of  the  physio- 
logist Helmholtz,  "  it  is  because  the  objects  of  sight,  as  our  glance  sweeps 
out  over  them,  present  themselves  to  us  as  though  arranged  on  a  flat  surface, 
that  we  are  able  to  recall  their  appearance  to  the  eye  by  drawing  and  painting 
executed  really  on  the  flat."  The  capacity,  then,  of  rightly  fixing  upon  a 
plane  surface  the  appearances  of  things  according  to  their  forms  and  colours  is 
the  first  condition  of  all  high  success  in  painting,  the  richest  and  most  many- 
sided  of  all  the  manual  or  shaping  arts.  Simple  as  the  optical  laws  of  right 
painting  may  seem  to  those  who  have  once  mastered  them,  nevertheless  to 
generations  upon  generations  of  men  who  strove  to  paint,  those  laws  remained 
unknown.  Painting  in  its  accomplished  form  —  painting  in  the  full  consciousness 
and  full  exercise  of  its  own  capabilities — is  the  youngest  among  the  kindred 
arts.  But  the  history  of  painting  is  bound  to  include  within  its  scope  not  only 
the  efforts  of  the  art's  maturity,  but  also  those  of  its  infancy  among  the  early 
nations  of  the  world. 


4  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

Those  very  races  whom  we  especially  designate  as  the  classic  races,  as  the 
ancients,  themselves  regarded  with  awe  the  people  of  Egypt,  that  land  of 
wonders  immeasurably  more  ancient  still.  To  them  Egypt  seemed  the  home 
of  all  venerable,  all  immemorial  traditions  of  human  civilisation.  The  most 
recent  research  confirms  their  belief  to  this  extent  at  least,  that  it  finds  upon 
Egyptian  soil  the  earliest  monuments  of  human  activity  for  which  it  is  possible 
to  fix  a  historic  date.  The  history  of  painting,  then,  must  have  its  starting 
point,  like  other  histories,  in  the  Valley  of  the  Nile. 

Egypt  proper  consists  of  a  long  and  narrow  oasis  lying  between  the  yellow 
sands  of  the  Lybian  desert  and  the  barren  mountains  of  the  Red  Sea  coast. 
Beginning  about  the  lower  spurs  of  the  mountain-terraces  of  Nubia,  near  the 
cataracts  of  Assouan  (the  Syene  of  the  Greeks),  the  territory  follows  thence 
the  course  of  the  sacred  river,  which  by  its  mysterious  inundations  is  the  one 
fertiliser  of  the  almost  rainless  land,  down  to  the  marshy  region  where  its 
waters  find  their  way  into  the  Mediterranean.  The  political  Egypt  of  history 
moved,  indeed,  in  the  reverse  direction — from  the  mouths  of  the  Nile  upwards 
to  the  Nubian  mountains.  Memphis,  the  capital  of  the  "  Old  Kingdom,"  lay 
but  a  short  distance  above  the  point  where  the  river  branches  into  the  Delta, 
opposite  the  site  of  the  modern  capital,  Cairo  ;  and  the  mighty  pyramids  of 
Gizeh,  which  from  the  citadel  of  Cairo  you  can  still  see  emerging  over  the 
horizon,  are  the  tombs  of  Pharaohs  who  ruled  over  the  same  soil  almost  five 
thousand  years  ago.  Farther  up  the  river,  in  Upper  Eg}-pt  proper,  lay  the 
city  of  the  hundred-gated  Thebes.  Thebes  was  the  capital  of  the  so-called 
"  Middle  Kingdom,"  from  the  eleventh  dynasty  down,  and  more  specifically  of 
the  "  New  Kingdom."  It  was  from  this  seat  that  the  New  Kingdom  went  out 
to  the  overthrow  of  the  foreign  sovereignty  of  the  Hyksos,  which  had  then  main- 
tained itself  for  centuries  over  the  lower  Valley  of  the  Nile.  The  monuments 
of  Thebes,  the  mighty  ruins  of  her  temples,  palaces,  and  tombs,  to  this  day 
extend  far  along  either  bank  of  the  river,  and  during  the  lapse  of  three  thousand 
years  and  more  have  retained,  beneath  the  perpetual  azure  of  the  Egyptian 
skies,  the  luminousness  of  their  ancient  colouring.  It  was  these  same  monarchs 
of  the  Theban  period  who  pushed  their  way  with  horse  and  chariot  still 
farther  to  the  south,  and  planted  within  the  territory  of  Nubia,  beyond  the 
boundaries  of  Egypt  proper,  monuments  destined  to  be  the  bulwarks  of  civil- 
isation against  the  negro  hordes.  Some  of  these  monuments,  as  for  instance 
those  of  Abousimbel  (Ipsambul),  rival  the  remains  of  Thebes  herself  in  majesty 
and  splendour,  so  that  the  historian  of  the  art  of  Egypt  is  compelled  to  pursue 
his  subject  even  into  those  inhospitable  wilds. 

It  has  been  a  question  of  much  and  learned  debate  whether  it  is  really 
permissible  to  speak  of  the  history  of  Egyptian  art  as  a  history  of  changes  in 
style  corresponding  to  changes  of  period  and  circumstance.  The  debate  must 
now  be  regarded  as  having  been   decided   in   the  affirmative.      At  any  rate,  we 


ANCIENT  EGYPT  AND  THE  EAST.  5 

may  establish  a  true  principle  of  distinction  between  the  art  of  the  Old  Kingdom, 
which  reached  its  highest  point  under  the  sixth  dynasty,  and  that  of  all 
succeeding  periods.  In  the  art  of  the  former  epoch  the  human  body  was 
conceived  under  proportions  comparatively  broad,  squat,  and  sturdy  ;  'but  no 
uniform  or  unalterable  canon  —  and  this  is  the  essential  distinction — had  yet 
imposed  its  constraints  upon  design.  Some  of  the  works  of  sculpture  brought 
to  light  b}-  Mariette  from  the  tombs  of  the  ancient  Memphis  exhibit  a  realism 
of  individual  life  and  character  completely  at  variance  with  all  our  preconceived 
notions  as  to  the  invariable  conventionality  of  Egyptian  art.  Under  the 
eleventh  dynasty,  with  which  some  scholars  begin  a  Middle  Kingdom,  the 
human  proportions  become  slenderer.  The  chest  is  still  broad  and  powerful, 
but  the  body  is  drawn  in,  the  arms  and  legs  become  relatively  thin,  while  the 
face  retains  the  low  retreating  forehead,  the  upward-sloping  cut  of  the  eye,  the 
thick  lips  with  their  half-sensual,  half-mechanical  smile.  Above  all,  every 
figure  is  now  mathematically  designed  according  to  a  prescribed  canon  of 
numerical  proportions  between  the  parts.  Under  the  New  Kingdom,  from  the 
eighteenth  dynasty  down,  this  type  and  this  canon  undergo  but  little  change  ; 
but  there  is  an  advance  towards  technical  perfection,  and  the  stir  of  new  poli- 
tical movements  among  the  dwellers  of  the  Nile  Valley  seems  to  impart  some- 
thing of  new  life  and  inspiration  to  the  historical  representations  of  art.  Even 
in  the  da}\s  of  the  Ptolemies,  when  Egypt  had  become  politically  Hellenised, 
the  canon  of  proportions  remained  essentially  the  same,  although  we  can 
discern  slight  divergencies,  and  although  a  foreign  influence  and  an  imitative 
intention  are  perceptible  in  a  feeling  for  rounder  and  more  flowing  forms. 
Nevertheless  all  these  phases  of  art  after  the  eleventh  dynasty  are  phases 
of  merely  superficial  variation,  and  the  difference  between  one  and  another 
is  so  slight  as  almost  to  disappear  when  we  consider  the  enormous  spaces 
of  time  in  which  such  differences  occur.  Egyptian  history  reckons  by 
dynasties  where  we  reckon  by  individual  potentates,  and  counts  by  thousands 
of  years  where  we  count  by  hundreds.  If  we  leave  out  of  view  the  remote 
age  in  which  Memphis  was  the  scat  of  empire — and  this  age  was  not  taken 
into  account  by  the  ancient  Greeks  in  their  own  estimate  of  things  P^gyptian 
— we  are  justified,  first  as  last,  in  speaking  of  the  stability  of  Egyptian  art  as 
having  been  such  as  almost  to  exclude  the  idea  of  historical  development.^ 

The  impulse  of  artistic  creation  in  the  ancient  Egyptians  was  very  strong, 
and  it  was  abov^e  all  things  an  impulse  to  the  creation  of  monuments  of  vastness. 
Architecture  was  the  ruling  art  in  the  Valley  of  the  Nile.  In  that  narrow 
space,  during  the  great  days  of  Egypt,  there  stood  probabl)'  a  more  prodigious 
number  of  the  mightiest  buildings  than  ever  stood  in  such  a  space  elsewhere. 
From  Bcni-Hassan  downwards  throughout  Lower  Egypt  it  is  true  that  almost  the 
only  monuments  which  remain  arc  monuments  raised  above  ground  to  the 
dead,  or  subterranean  places  of  burial.       In  this  region  the  temples  and   ])alaces 


6  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

of  the  primeval  dynasties  have  perished,  partly  from  the  very  excess  of  their 
antiquity,  partly  from  the  comparative  variability  of  the  climate,  and  partly 
from  the  fact  that  political  revolutions  have  been  more  frequent  and  more 
violent  here  than  farther  inland.  On  the  other  hand,  of  the  colonnaded  courts, 
the  halls  of  pomp,  the  proudly  towered  sanctuaries,  built  by  the  Theban 
dynasties  in  Nubia  and  Upper  Egypt,  quite  enough  has  been  preserved  to  our 
own  day  to  give  us  a  lively  insight  into  the  architectural  aspect  anciently 
borne  by  those  regions. 

The  point  which  strikes  the  attention  first  of  all  in  regard  to  all  these 
prodigious  buildings — those  below  as  well  as  those  above  ground,  those  of  the 
Old  and  Middle  Kingdoms  as  well  as  those  of  the  New — is  that  architecture  here 
universally  absorbs  into  her  own  service  the  other  manual  arts  of  sculpture  and 
painting.  In  Egyptian  art,  the  painted  relief,  considered  as  sculpture,  is 
raised  but  very  little  from  the  field,  and  scarcely  differs  in  treatment  from 
painting  properly  so  called — from  the  art,  that  is,  of  representing  solid  objects 
on  a  flat  surface.  The  painted  reliefs  of  the  Egyptians  come,  therefore,  legiti- 
mately within  the  scope  of  the  present  enquiry.  We  find  all  the  wall-surfaces  of 
their  buildings,  inside  as  well  as  out,  all  cornices,  all  shafts  of  columns,  decorated 
in  colours,  whether  laid  really  on  the  flat  within  outlines  previously  drawn,  or 
whether  disposed  upon  spaces  carved  in  real  though  low  relief,  or  whether, 
finally,  upon  spaces  treated  in  that  kind  of  sunk  or  apparent  relief  which  is 
peculiar  to  Egyptian  art  {Kotkavd'y\v(f>a,  bas-i-eliefs  en  cretix,  versenkte  Reliefs, 
ScJieinreliefs : — in  this  last  case  the  decorated  surface  does  not  really  project 
from  the  face  of  the  wall,  but  owes  its  appearance  of  projection  to  the 
outlines  being  incised  and  the  retreating  parts  of  the  figures  cut  away).  Of 
the  vast  subjects  which  decorate  the  outer  walls  of  the  temples  of  Nubia 
and  Upper  Egypt,  the  greater  part  are  executed  in  this  method  of  sunk  or 
apparent  relief.  The  chief  application  of  painting  to  true  flat  surfaces  which 
occurs  in  the  monumental  art  of  Egypt  is  in  the  decoration  of  sepulchral 
chambers,  as  for  instance  those  of  Beni-Hassan  (twelfth  dynasty)  :  here,  as  in 
other  tombs,  with  the  exception  of  occasional  subjects  from  the  Ritual  of  the 
Dead,  the  scenes  depicted  are  almost  exclusively  taken  from  the  private  and 
everyday  life  of  the  people.  Painting  executed  strictly  on  the  flat  occurs 
again  in  the  decorations  of  a  variety  of  objects  discovered  in  tombs  of  the 
early  period,  and  especially  by  way  of  illustration  or  vignette  to  the  papyrus 
rolls  employed  for  writing.  For  our  present  purpose  we  need  not  spend  time 
upon  the  minor  works  of  Egyptian  painting,  but  may  limit  our  attention  to 
what  is  by  far  the  most  important  class  of  such  works,  the  great  monumental 
representations  executed  on  the  walls  of  temple-palaces  or  tombs."  When  we 
have  said  that  there  is  little  essential  difference  of  character  between  those  which 
are  pure  paintings  on  the  flat,  and  those  which  are  paintings  on  a  ground  more 
or  less  relieved,  we  have  already  pronounced  the  verdict  of  the  former  considered 


ANCIENT  EGYPT  AND  THE  EAST.  7 

from  the  pictorial  point  of  view.  For  paintinsr  cannot  be  combined  in  any 
degree  with  rehef,  without  forfeiting  its  own  specific  prerogatives.  It  is  not 
that  rehef  is  treated  by  the  Egyptian  artists,  as  Ghiberti  treated  it  in  the 
fifteenth  century,  according  to  the  laws  of  painting,  but  that  painting  is  treated 
according  to  the  laws  of  relief ;  or  more  strictly,  that  painting  and  relief  in  one 
are  emplo\-ed  to  produce  representations  merely  in  outline  and  effects  purely 
decorative.  Neither  the  principle  of  the  painter  nor  the  principle  of  the  relief 
sculptor  is  really  carried  out.  The  Egj-ptian  artist  applies  his  combined  arts, 
one  might  almost  say,  hieroglyphically  ;  his  one  object,  to  which  all  artistic 
effect  is  secondar)',  is  to  be  clear  and  intelligible,  and  to  tell  so  that  all  may 
understand  it  the  story  which  he  undertakes  to  tell. 

Least  of  all  do  we  find  in  Egyptian  work  an}-  trace  of  perspective,  or  any 
attempt  to  conjure  up  by  imitation  on  the  flat  a  portion  of  the  world's 
phenomena  in  their  true  appearance  and  relations.  When  two  figures  have 
to  be  represented  behind  one  another,  this  is  often  done  by  simpK'  doubling 
the  outlines  of  the  first  figure  ;  the  natural  consequence  is  that  the  farther 
of  the  two  looks  larger  than  the  nearer.  Sometimes  the  figures  which  are 
intended  to  be  in  the  rear  are  shown  emerging  higher  b}'  half  a  length  than 
those  intended  to  be  in  front  ;  and  sometimes,  again,  the  rear  rank  is  ranged 
clear  over  the  front  rank,  with  the  feet  of  the  former  above  the  heads  of  the 
latter.  It  can  hardly  be  held  that  these  conventions  have  reference  to  the 
real  law  of  sight  according  to  which  objects  as  they  recede  seem  to  lie  one 
above  another  up  to  the  horizon.  Nay,  in  many  scenes  all  possibilit}'  of  right 
perspective  is  excluded  beforehand  by  another  primitive  convention,  according 
to  which  superiority  of  rank  is  indicated  in  the  picture  b}-  superiority  of  size. 
We  find  this  especially  in  the  great  battle-pieces  of  the  nineteenth  dynasty, 
in  which  the  king  himself  is  accustomed  to  appear  at  the  head  or  in  the  midst 
of  his  army,  overtowering  by  many  lengths  all  other  personages  whether  of 
friend  or  foe.  An  interesting  example  occurs  in  the  coloured  work  in  hall- 
relief  on  the  side  wall  of  the  first  chamber  at  Abousimbel  (Fig.  1).  The 
gigantic  Tharaoh  storms  along  in  his  war  chariot  with  its  prancing  steeds,  in 
the  act  of  discharging  an  arrow  against  the  mountain-citadel  of  his  enemies. 
He  is  followed  immediately  by  his  three  sons,  who  stand  in  like  manner 
with  drawn  bows  upon  their  chariots,  and  are  represented  one  exactly  above 
another,  so  as  to  leave  a  clear  interval,  if  not  between  each  charioteer,  at 
lea.st  between  the  back  of  each  horse  and  the  feet  of  those  above  him  ;  and 
yet  the  height  of  all  three  together  only  just  equals  the  stature  of  their  sire.        •• 

Naturally  this  absence  of  perspective,  which  throws  so  strangely  out  the 
grouping  of  even  a  few  figures  close  to  one  another,  tells  with  tut^fold  effect 
where  the  background  is  regularly  filled  in,  or  where  continuous  land.scapc  is 
attempted.  In  tiie  latter  case  the  countr\'  is  depicted  in  ground-plan  like  a 
map.      Of  this   treatment   the   battle-pieces  at  Abousimbel  and    in   the  Temple 


ITISrORY  OF  PAINTING. 


of  Rameses  at  Thebes  furnish 
ver}'  interesting  examples.  In 
one  of  the  first  we  have  a  river- 
bed drawn  in  ground-plan,  and 
within  the  river-bed  an  island 
or  tongue  of  land  defended 
by  a  wall  and  ditch  ;  the 
fortifications  of  the  island  are 
indicated  by  six  battlemented 
towers  drawn  in  elevation,  and 
ill  the  same  way  the  camp  with 
the  royal  tents  is  drawn  partly 
in  ground-plan  like  the  river- 
bed, partly  in  elevation  like 
the  towers.  The  same  methods 
are  combined  in  the  ground- 
plan  representation  of  a  river 
and  fortified  island,  and  the 
profile  representation  of  a  battle- 
medley  on  the  shore,  with  zig- 
zag lines  for  waves,  which  occurs 
in  the  Temple  of  Rameses  at 
Thebes.  Another  very  singular 
substitute  for  perspective  occurs 
sometimes  in  the  paintings  of 
the  twelfth  dynasty  in  the 
tombs  at  Beni- Hassan.  Fa- 
vourite scenes  here  are  scenes 
of  fishing  and  fowling  among 
marshes.  The  fisher  or  fowler 
stands  upright  beside  the  watfer, 
which  is  indicated  by  a  per- 
pendicular zigzag  pattern  in 
black  at  his  feet.  And  in 
order  to  bring  to  the  level  of 
his  eye  the  fish  which  he  has 
to  catch,  or  the  water-bird 
which  he  has  to  shoot  swim- 
ming, the  piece  of  water  in 
which  the  one  or  the  other 
occurs  is  carried  up  perpendi- 
cularly in  an  isolated  column 
to   the   required    level.      What 


Fiii.  I. 


ANCIENT  EGYPT  AND  THE  EAST.  9 

remains,  however,  the  most  characteristic  feature  of  Egyptian  drawing,  is  that 
curiously  mixed  system  in  which  the  general  landscape  is  drawn  in  ground-plan 
like  a  map,  and  its  individual  features  in  elevation  like  a  picture  ;  while  it 
seems  to  depend  simph-  on  considerations  of  symmetry  or  convenience  in  dis- 
tribution, in  what  direction  the  base-lines  of  various  objects  shall  be  made 
to  run,  and  therefore  whether  they  shall  stand  upright,  or  on  their  right 
or  left  sides,  or  upside  down.  This  fashion  is  clearly  set  before  us  by  a 
well-known  painting  in  a  funeral  chapel  at  Abd-el-qurna,  representing  the 
building  of  the  Temple  of  Ammon  (Fig.  2).  Among  other  incidents,  some 
figures,  coloured  yellow,  are  drawing  water  in  great  jars  from  a  square  pond. 
The  reader  will  observe  that  this  pond  is  drawn  in  ground-plan  and  surrounded 
b}'  an  edging  of  grass,  which  the  painter  has  represented  of  equal  width — that 
is,  in  ground-plan  also — on  all  four  sides.  And  beyond  the  edging  of  grass 
he  has  wished  to  represent  shady  trees  surrounding  the  pond,  six  on  each 
side  of  the  square,  and  has  had  no  hesitation  in  drawing  each  row  of  six 
at  right  angles  to  the  line  which  bounds  that  side  of  the  pond  upon  which  it 
grows  ;  so  that  all  four  rows  point  different  ways,  and  onl)-  the  top  row  stands 
upright.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  painter  by  this  method  attains  the 
object  of  making  himself  understood  ;  but  as  to  any  other,  any  properly 
pictorial  object,  it  is  obvious  that  at  such  he  makes  no  attempt,  and  for  such 
he  is  entitled  to  no  praise. 

It  is  understood,  then,  that  in  Eg}'ptian  painting  there  is  no  question  of 
enclosing  separate  and  complete  pictures  within  determinate  limits.  What 
we  find  in  the  pictures  that  cover  the  whole  height  of  these  enormous  wall- 
spaces  is  essentially  an  arrangement  of  scenes  in  horizontal  tiers  one  above 
another,  such  tiers  being  usually  wider  below  and  narrower  above.  Nevertheless 
figures  larger  than  the  rest  interrupt  now  and  then  the  continuity  of  the  tiers  ; 
and  the  general  scheme  of  the  decorations  is  governed  by  no  severe  principle  of 
regularity.  When  the  conditions  of  symmetry  have  been  sufficiently  complied 
with  in  the  arrangements  of  lines  and  colours  at  certain  points — as,  for  instance, 
at  the  huge  gateways  where  men  passed  in  beneath  the  symbolic  sun-globe  with 
its  extended  wings — when  this  has  been  done  sufficiently  to  insure  decorative 
effect,  the  arrangement  of  the  figure  subjects  remains  to  a  large  extent  free,  and 
admits  of  much  variation,  in  spite  of  the  continual  recurrence  of  similar  figures 
marching  this  way  or  that  in  stiff  procession.  Hence  the  assertion  of  the  great 
historian  of  art,  Schnaase,  that  in  Egypt  decorative  painting  and  sculpture  are 
not  really  subordinate  to  architecture,  but  independent,  merely  finding  in  the 
wall-surfaces  provided  by  architecture  an  opportunit}-  for  their  own  free  devices. 
Or  again,  if  we  consider  that  the  primary  purpose  of  all  these  great  paintings 
seems  to  be  to  commemorate  actual  events  for  posterit)^  ;  na)-  more,  that  their 
subjects  are  sometimes  actually  taken  from  the  endless  hierogl\-phic  inscriptions 
which  share  the  same   walls   with   them,  and   occasional!}-   encroach   upon   their 

C 


lO 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


IZ 


ANCIENT  EGYPT  AND  THE  EAST. 


II 


field  ;  so  that,  if  these  great  decorations  are  in  part  the  servants  of  architecture, 
they  are  at  least  as  much  the  servants  of  history, — if  we  consider  this,  we  shall 
understand  \vh\-  another  distinguished  writer,  Semper,  speaks  of  the  storied 
walls  of  the  Egyptian  palaces  as  so  many  "  colossal  writing-tablets,"  and  calls 
their  painted  decorations  so  much  colour-rhetoric,  as  distinguished  from  colonr- 
imisic,  that  is,  from  painting  which  is  purely  architectural 

Enough  has  been  said  to  show  that  in  reference  to  the  monuments  of 
Egypt  there  can  be  no  question  of  the  complete  effects  or  mature  processes 
of  painting,  regarded  as  an  art  having  either  the  purpose  or  the  means 
adequately  to  translate  upon  a  flat  surface  the  facts  of  nature  and  of  space.' 
Let  us  pass  now  from  the  consideration  of  the  general  system  of  composition 
which  we  find  in  these  works,  first  to  their  treatment  of  individual  forms,  and 
next  to  their  treatment  of  colour. 

We  have  already  spoken  in  general  terms  of  the  typical  conception  of  the 
human  form  which  prevails  in  Egyptian  art.  In  the  history  of  Egyptian  paint- 
ing we  fail  to  encounter  that  comparatively  realistic  treatment  which  we  have 
mentioned  as  characteristic  of  the  earliest  Egyptian  sculpture.  Both  in  paintings 
on  the  flat  and  in  the  works  of  the  kindred  art  of  sunk  relief,  we  have  to  do  from 
first  to  last  with  an  established  canon  of  human  proportions,  though  it  is  true  that 
the  earliest  sunk  reliefs  until  the  sixth  dynasty  show  signs  of  more  freedom  and 
naturalism  than  those  of  later  times.  Even  then,  nevertheless,  this  art  already 
exhibits  some  of  the  regular  characteristics  of  Egyptian  painting,  and  among 
others,  that  of  a  confusion  between  the  side  and  the  front  views  of  the  human 
figure.  This  confusion  arises  partly  from  want  of  feeling  for  perspective,  and 
parti}'  from  the  desire  of  representing  action  intelligibly.  The  consequence  is, 
that  the  bewigged  and  strangely  tired  heads,  with  their  conventional,  often 
artificial  beards,  are  almost  always  drawn  in  exact  profile,  while  the  breast  is 
shown  in  full  front  and  the  lower  part  of  the  body  again  in  profile.  This  dis- 
tortion naturally  produces  a  perplexing  effect  upon  the  eye. 

Further,  the  adoption  of  a  mathematical  canon  naturally  excludes  the  possi- 
bility of  sharply  discriminating  individual  characters.  To  discriminate  even  age 
from  youth  is  more  than  we  are  usually  enabled  to  do.  Nevertheless  this 
uniformity  does  not  extend  so  far  as  to  obliterate  distinctions  of  race.  The 
various  nationalities  known  to  the  Egyptians  are  indicated  by  clearly  marked 
types,  and  the  negro,  his  colour  apart,  is  distinguished  not  less  characteristically 
from  the  Egyptian  than  from  the  Asiatic.  One  of  the  royal  tombs  of  the  New 
Kingdom  affords  a  good  instance  of  such  a  grouping  of  various  races.  Again,  it 
has  been  remarked  with  reason  that,  just  as  at  first  sight  we  fanc\'  that  all 
Chinamen,  all  Negroes,  or  all  Malays,  are  alike,  but  upon  further  acquaintance 
are  able  to  recognise  their  individual  features,  even  so  the  student  of  Egyptian 
art  learns  in  course  of  time  to  distinguish  better  among  the  physiognomies  that 
at   first   he   thinks   so   uniform.      It   is,  however,  on!)-  of  the   i)ortraits   of  kings 


12  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

that  this  remark  holds  good  ;  the  general  multitude  of  figures  of  one  and 
the  same  race  show  no  less  regularity  in  their  rigid  features  than  in  the  propor- 
tions of  their  bodily  structure.  Steeped  in  conventionality,  however,  as  are  the 
forms,  the  movements  of  figures  in  Egyptian  art  are  full  of  life  and  spirit  ;  not 
anatomically  correct,  but  speaking  and  unmistakable.  True,  in  repose  or  in 
slow  advance,  both  feet  are  made  to  rest  along  the  ground.  But  in  the  repre- 
sentation of  running  or  any  rapid  movement,  the  point  only  of  the  foot  is  made 
to  touch  the  ground  ;  the  legs,  and  with  them  the  arms,  which  in  repose  hung 
quite  stiffly  by  the  side,  are  designed  in  the  attitudes  and  movements  of  every 
variety  of  occupation.  The  Egyptians  are  thus  capable  of  telling  with  clearness 
any  kind  of  story  by  means  of  pictures  ;  or  if  their  knowledge  of  nature  in  any 
instance  fails  them,  they  know  how  to  make  up  for  it  by  a  system  of  symbolism 
not  less  clear  and  obvious.  Thus,  in  a  large  class  of  representations  intended 
to  exhibit  the  king  as  conqueror  over  many  alien  communities,  such  conquered 
communities  are  brought  together  in  a  kind  of  tangle,  so  as  almost  to  look  like 
a  single  creature,  many-legged,  many-armed,  and  many-headed,  which  the  king 
grasps  by  a  single  top-knot  composed  of  the  hair  of  all  the  heads  twisted 
together,  in  order  to  cut  the  heads  themselves  off  the  bodies  at  a  single  blow  of 
his  sword.  The  Egyptians,  then,  are  only  capable  of  representing  naturally 
individual  figures  and  actions,  and  even  in  this,  tradition  keeps  their  naturalism 
within  narrow  bounds  ;  while  as  soon  as  knowledge  derived  from  observation 
fails  them,  which  it  does  in  all  extended  efforts,  they  have  recourse  either  to  the 
kind  of  symbolism  we  have  just  mentioned,  or  else  to  those  devices  in  lieu 
of  perspective  described  farther  back.  Another  natural  consequence  of  the 
deficient  command  of  the  Egyptians  over  individual  form  and  feature,  was 
that  they  could  not  assign  to  each  of  their  several  gods,  as  the  Greeks  with 
so  much  mastery  assigned  to  each  of  theirs,  an  appropriate  and  distinguishable 
type.  In  default  of  this  power,  the  painters  of  Egypt  employed  a  symbolism 
which  may,  from  its  correspondence  to  the  religious  ideas  of  the  people,  have 
been  not  less  plain  to  them  than  the  significance  of  the  tj'pes  of  Greek  art  was 
to  the  Greeks.  Their  mode  of  expressing  the  differences  between  one  god  and 
another  was  by  fastening  the  heads  of  different  animals  upon  human  bodies, 
and  fastening  them  often  in  a  very  inorganic  and  tasteless  way  ;  as  when,  for 
instance,  we  see  the  thin  Ibis-neck  of  the  god  Thoth  growing  from  the  broad 
shoulders  of  his  trunk  in  a  fashion  as  comical  as  it  is  monstrous. 

But  the  greatest  of  all  the  deficiencies  in  Egyptian  art  is  its  deficiency  in 
the  power  of  depicting  the  affections  of  the  mind  as  expressed  upon  the  features. 
One  face  wears  almost  always  the  same  fixed  and  invariable  expression  as 
another.  A  king,  whether  we  see  him  engaged  in  prayer  or  sacrifice,  or  con- 
fronting the  enemy  in  the  onset  of  battle,  or  marching  in  triumph  after  his 
victory,  or  sitting  upon  the  seat  of  judgment  in  the  character  of  an  avenging 
deity,  invariably  bears  upon  his  countenance  the  same  character  of  inexpressive 


ANCIENT  EGYPT  AND  THE  EAST.  13 

and  conventional  rigidity,  beneath  which  our  modern  eyes  seem  to  detect  some- 
thing of  a  sensual  and  self-complacent  smile.  It  is  by  gestures  only,  and 
especially  by  the  gestures  of  the  arms,  now  raised  in  entreaty,  now  extended 
to  avert  some  visitation,  now  upheaved  in  menace, — it  is  by  these  alone  that 
the  emotions  of  the  personages  are  wont  to  be  indicated. 

From  all  this  it  is  clear  that  Egyptian  art  fails  the  more  the  higher  it 
aspires.  It  is  incapable  of  anything  like  a  worth}-  realisation  of  the  divine. 
It  is  almost  incapable  of  representing  any  of  the  movements  of  the  human 
spirit.  It  is  not  even  capable  of  adequately  representing  the  physical  life 
of  man,  of  which  the  true  beauty  can  only  be  rendered  by  an  art  which  has 
freed  itself  from  the  shackles  of  conventionalism. 

These  shortcomings  of  Egyptian  art  affect  us  much  less  in  the  represent- 
ation of  animals,  because,  as  has  been  justly  said,  we  are  most  of  us,  in  our 
observation  of  animals,  content  with  recognising  the  type,  and  do  not 
descend  to  individual  particulars.  And  the  various  types  of  animal  life  arc 
apprehended  by  Egyptian  art  in  a  very  lively  and  natural  manner  ;  nay,  even 
the  individual  actions  of  their  lives  are  often  vividh'  copied,  as  when  a  calf  in 
the  meadow  obeys  the  calls  of  nature,  or  when  peacocks  sit  in  a  fig-tree  and 
pluck  the  fruit,  or  when  goats  leap  up  to  catch  the  twigs  of  trees. 

In  like  manner  the  vegetable  world  is  often  characteristically  enough 
represented.  Sometimes,  indeed,  as  in  one  of  the  great  pictures  at  Karnak, 
the  trees  seem  as  childishly  drawn  as  in  an  old  Nuremberg  toy -box  ; 
but  in  other  instances,  as  in  the  court  of  a  small  temple  of  the  age 
of  Rameses  II.,  at  Beit-Ualli  in  Nubia,  we  find  them  ver}-  natural  and 
well  characterised.  We  see  a  troop  of  defeated  negroes  taking  flight  for 
some  palm -groves,  and  the  palm-trees  are  very  faithfully  delineated  with 
their  crop  of  fruit,  their  broad  leaves  and  scaly  stems  ;  monkeys  sit  in 
their  summits  ;  within  a  hedged  enclosure  a  woman  is  busy  over  household 
tasks  ;  other  women  and  children  run  out  to  meet  the  piteous  company  of  the 
fugitives  ;  and  altogether  we  seem  to  look  upon  a  very  lively  picture  of  the 
tropical  groves  of  Ethiopia.  Not,  of  course,  that  Egyptian  art,  by  its  general 
laws,  admits  anything  resembling  the  drawing  or  grouping  of  various  trees  in 
pictorial  ma.sses.  Spacious  gardens  are  indeed  represented,  but  in  the  aforesaid 
manner,  their  extent  being  indicated  in  ground-plan,  and  the  individual  trees, 
gates,  pavilions,  potted  shrubs,  and  the  like,  being  drawn  in  outline  and 
standing  this  way  or  that  according  to  fancy,  though  more  commonlx-  upright 
than  not. 

Water  has  been  called  the  eye  or  the  soul  of  landscape,  and  ICgyptian  art 
is  just  as  little  able  to  express,  in  the  higher  sense,  the  character  of  water  as  it 
is  to  represent  the  eye  or  the  scjul  of  man.  In  this  particular,  indeed,  rigid 
convention  reigns  supreme,  and  for  thcnisands  of  years  a  strip  of  blue,  filled 
perpendicularly  with    zig/cag   black   lines,  was   taken  as  standing   for  water,  and 


14  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

the  dififerent  kinds  of  water  in  the  country  were  indicated,  as  the  case  might  be, 
by  fishes,  crabs,  turtles,  crocodiles,  hippopotami,  or  the  like.  Thus  marshes  are 
indicated  sufficiently  for  the  artist's  purpose  by  beds  of  water-flags,  lotus,  or 
papyrus,  and  by  the  many-coloured  water-birds  which  inhabit  them  ;  we  see 
how  the  reeds  are  bent  by  the  nests,  full  of  eggs  and  young,  which  hang  from 
them,  and  which  the  weasel  and  ichneumon  climb  their  stems  to  rifle. 

To  turn  to  the  Egyptian  system  of  colouring,  it  is  as  little  possible  to 
speak  of  any  true  pictorial  treatment  of  colour  in  their  art  as  of  any  true  per- 
spective system  of  drawing.  As  there  is  no  attempt  at  a  continuous  or  natural 
background,  the  various  figures  are  simply  relieved  upon  the  general  tint  of  the 
wall.  This,  as  at  Pompeii,  is  generally  coloured  dark  along  the  dado,  where 
flowers  are  represented  growing,  but  over  its  main  area  is  more  commonly 
brilliantly  light.  This  uniform-coloured  background,  while  it  governs  the 
architectural  impression  of  the  whole  wall,  and  gives  it  a  kind  of  decorative 
unity,  on  the  other  hand  breaks  up  the  pictorial  unity  of  the  scene  represented 
in  it.  Pictorial  unity  being  thus  excluded,  and  no  attempt  whatever  being 
made  at  modelling  or  chiaroscuro,  we  can  hardly  speak  of  the  "  colouring  "  ot 
the  work  as  a  whole,  but  only  of  the  particular  tints  which  are  distributed  upon 
its  several  parts.  These  tints  are  applied  on  the  principle  of  imitating  nature, 
so  far  as  the  observation  of  nature  and  the  knowledge  of  pigments  made  such 
imitation  possible.  The  Egyptians  painted  male  figures  of  their  own  race  a 
reddish  brown  ;  horses  the  same  ;  whereas  women  were  from  the  very  earliest 
times  painted  yellow,  or  at  any  rate  a  lighter  brown  ;  negroes  were  tinted 
black,  Asiatics  yellow,  and  once  we  find  a  figure  with  a  white  skin,  blue  eyes, 
and  yellow  hair.  Patterns  both  various  and  pleasing  are  painted  on  the 
coloured  stuff's  with  which  the  races  are  respectively  clothed.  These  stuffs  are 
often  so  thin  as  to  be  transparent  ;  and  the  one  instance  of  something  like  true 
pictorial  effect  which  we  find  in  Egyptian  art  is  where  the  bodies,  as  seen 
through  these  transparent  tissues,  are  painted  in  a  whiter  shade  of  their  own 
colour,  or  else  in  a  new  colour  lighter  than  their  own.  Fo-r  the  rest,  the  scale 
of  colour  and  number  of  pigments  at  the  command  of  the  Egyptians  were  too 
limited  for  them  to  attempt  more  than  the  merest  approximation  to  the  local 
colouring  of  nature.  Sometimes,  however,  a  marked  deviation  from  nviture  is 
due  not  to  poverty  of  resources  but  to  other  considerations.  This  is  the  case 
especially  in  the  representation  of  divinities.  To  represent  the  supernatural, 
the  Egyptian  mind  had  recourse,  fantastically  enough,  to  the  ?/;/natural,  and, 
not  content  with  giving  their  gods  the  heads  of  brutes,  proceeded  to  paint 
them  —  perhaps  according  to  some  profound  principle  of  colour-symbolism 
which  we  are  no  longer  able  to  fathom — in  vivid  hues  of  red,  yellow,  green,  or 
blue.  Where  the  sense  of  perspective  is  wanting,  as  we  have  said,  in  all 
things,  for  aerial  perspective  as  expressed  by  gradations  of  colour  we  of  course 
cannot  look.      And  thus   the  whole   system   of  Egyptian   colour  is  contrary  to 


ANCIENT  EGYPT  AND  THE  EAST.  15 

the  principles  of  the  true  pictorial  representation  of  nature.  At  the  same  time 
it  serves  all  the  better  to  characterise  under  various  conventional  types  the 
several  classes  of  person  and  object  represented,  and  thus  works  hand  in  hand 
with  the  art  of  drawing  as  practised  on  kindred  principles  b\-  the  same  race. 

Just  as  no  free  or  complete  pictorial  effect  could  be  produced  by  these 
means,  so  the  hands  emplo}-ed  were,  we  must  understand,  not  those  of 
artists  in  an)-  higher  sense  of  the  word,  but  only  those  of  craftsmen 
possessed  of  technical  skill  and  training.  Moreover,  the  pictures  as  we 
see  them  were  not  even,  we  know,  carried  out  in  any  case  by  one  hand. 
The  \-arious  crafts  in  ancient  Egypt  were  strictly  organised  in  guilds,  and 
se\erc  penalties  forbade  all  encroachment  b}-  the  members  of  one  guild 
upon  the  functions  of  another.  Thus  it  appears  that  one  group  of  work- 
men was  told  off  to  face  the  stone  of  the  walls  with  the  plaster  prepara- 
tion which  was  used  as  a  ground  for  all  kinds  of  painting.  Another  group 
drew  the  outlines  in  red.  Another,  in  cases  where  the  method  of  sunk  relief 
was  in  favour,  hollowed  out  these  outlines.  A  last  group  was  charged  with 
the  actual  la^'ing  on  of  the  colour,  which  was  always  done  upon  a  white  ground, 
and  it  is  even  probable  that  for  the  laying  on  of  this  white  ground  a  separate 
group  of  hands  was  employed.  As  to  the  technical  processes  of  Egyptian 
painting,  they  seem  to  have  been  those  of  distemper  in  its  simplest  form.  The 
vehicle  emplo}'ed  was  gum-water,  and  fresco  seems  not  to  have  been  known. 
Some  examples  are  preserved  in  which,  the  work  having  stopped  short  at  one 
or  other  of  the  various  stages  of  manipulation  we  have  described,  those  stages 
can  be  traced  back  and  examined.  On  the  other  hand,  we  have  also  pictures 
representing  Egyptian  artists  at  their  work  ;  some,  whose  business  it  is  to 
prepare  the  ground,  stand  with  their  paint-pots  by  their  side  and  brushes  in 
their  hand  ;  others,  who  have  palettes  suspended  from  the  arm,  we  must  con- 
clude to  be  the  painters  properly  so  called,  whose  task  it  was  to  complete  the 
picture  by  giving  it  variety  of  colour.  The  museum  at  Morence  possesses  a 
wooden  tablet  which  is  of  the  utmost  interest  inasmuch  as  it  seems  to  be  a 
palette  with  the  remains  of  painting  materials  upon  it.  On  this  we  find  onl)' 
seven  colours,  black,  green,  dark  and  light  red,  dark  and  light  yellow,  and  light 
blue  ;   but  we  know  that  at  least  brown  and  white  were  in  use  besides. 

The  processes  of  Egyptian  painting,  like  most  other  processes  to  which  a 
similar  division  of  labour  is  applied,  were  carried  out  with  much  care  and  cer- 
tainty to  a  point  of  uniform  and  smooth  completeness.  But  their  result  carries, 
as  might  be  expected,  the  corresponding  stamp  of  con\cnti(~)iialit\-,  want  of 
inspiration,  and  constraint,  whereby  the  greater  part  of  I^g\plian  art  stands 
bound  in  the  fetters  of  Oriental  bondage,  with  the  art  of  painting  properly  so 
called  arrested  in  its  infancy,  and  the  art  of  outline-drawing,  itself  b\'  no  means 
devoid  of  spirit  and  liveliness  in  motive,  tied  nevertheless  to  the  service  of  a 
kind  of  colossal    picture-writing   or   moiuimciilal    annals.      If,  therefore,  the  eye 


i6 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


lingers  with  interest  upon  the  strange  and  manifold  aspects  of  life  thus  recorded, 
it  is  the  subject  rather  than  the  fashion  of  the  record  which  attracts  us.  The 
reader  will  ha\e  realised  by  this  time  that  Egyptian  art  is  after  its  manner 
an  art  of  clear  and  lively  illustration,  and  indeed  we  owe  to  it  a  very  living 
and  varied  insight  into  the  phases  of  a  picturesque  and  long  vanished  primeval 
culture. 


The  scenes  painted  on  Egyptian  walls  have  been  appropriately  classed  under 
three  heads — religious,  historical,  and  domestic.  Of  these,  the  religious  class 
is  that  which  lies  farthest  from  our  sympathies.  In  these  brute  -headed 
divinities,  blue  or  green,  we  can  take  no  pleasure  for  themselves,  while  their 
sacrificial  ceremonies  soon  pall  upon  us  by  their  repetition  and  their  uniformity, 
and  many  of  the  mysteries  represented  remain  mysteries  to  our  eyes  none  the 
less  that  Egyptologists  profess  to  have  deciphered  them.  Still  we  do  not  fail 
to  appreciate  a  certain  character  of  lofty  and  tranquil  solemnity  which  prevails 
in  many  scenes  of  dedication  and  procession.  Among  the  most  interesting 
are  those  which  refer  to  the  worship  of  the  dead,  the  transport  of  mummies  in 
funeral  barges,  rites  of  burial,  the  weighing  of  departed  souls  in  the  scales  of 
Vudgment,  and  the  like.      Such  scenes  of  religion  and   ritual  are   most   frequent 


ANCIENT  EGYPT  AND  THE  EAST. 


17 


in  the  funeral  monuments  of  the  New  Kingdom.      In  connection  with  them  the 
deceased  is  generally  introduced  in  his  own  likeness. 

The  historical  class  of  paintings,  on  the  other  hand,  naturally  interest 
us  in  the  highest  degree,  although  here  too  we  must  admit  the  fault  of  a  certain 
monotony  in  the  frequent  representation  of  similar  subjects.  Such  great  historic 
scenes  occur  for  the  most  part  on  the  walls  of  the  huge  structures  of  the  eighteenth 


Fig.  4. 


and  nineteenth  dynasties  in  Nubia  and  Upper  Egypt.  They  are  mostly  executed 
in  sunk  relief  To  this  class  belong  the  striking  paintings  of  the  terrace-temple 
of  Dcr-el-baheri,  in  Upper  Egypt,  representing  the  naval  expedition  against 
Arabia  conducted  by  the  sister  of  Thotmosis  III.  in  the  eighteenth  dynasty.^ 
The  expedition  defiles  along  superposed  strips  of  water,  each  strip  alive  with 
turtles,  lobsters,  and  fishes  ;  and  there  is  a  peculiar  animation  in  the  scenes  which 
show  us  how  the  masted  and  richly  rigged  ships  in  part  lie  moored  to  the  trees 
of  the  bank  to  receive  their  freight  of  boot}',  and  in  part  are  already  being  sped 
by  swelling  sails  and  strong  rowers  upon  the  homeward  voj'age.  There  has 
been  preserved  a  disproportionate  number  of  scenes  from  the  life  of  Ramescs  II.  ; 
but  it  has  been  proved  that  this  vainglorious  sovereign,  a  royal  forger  on  a  grand 

\) 


1 8  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

scale,  in  many  instances  caused  his  own  name  to  be  substituted  for  those  of  his 
predecessors  on  the  monuments  that  celebrated  their  exploits.  It  was  while  he 
was  still  young  that  Rameses  caused  the  chief  incidents  of  his  reign  to  be  de- 
picted at  Abousimbel,  in  Nubia.  The  victories  which  he  won  over  an  Asiatic 
confederation,  in  the  fifth  year  of  his  reign,  and  which  were  sung  in  an  epic 
poem  by  Pentaur,  which  is  preserved  in  the  British  Museum,  are  depicted  upon 
various  monuments  at  Beit-el-Ualli,  in  Nubia,  at  Luxor,  and  at  the  Temple  of 
Rameses  in  Thebes.  The  real  glory  of  this  prince,  about  whose  name  so  much 
renown  has  centred,  ends  with  his  early  campaigns.  The  chief  enterprises  of 
his  later  years  were  slave-hunts,  which  he  carried  on  in  Ethiopia  for  the  sake  of 
securing  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  labouring  hands  that  were  needed  to 
satisfy  the  building  mania  which  possessed  him.  Transports  laden  with  negro 
captives  are  shown  on  many  of  his  monuments,  and  bear  a  startling  resemblance 
to  the  illustrations  of  the  slave-traffic  lately  made  by  Schweinfurth  from  life  in  the 
same  regions  ;*  and  thus  we  see  how,  aloof  from  the  main  highroads  of  western 
civilisation,  the  same  scenes  of  barbarism  have  gone  on  repeating  themselves 
through  thousands  of  years.  Some  campaigns  of  the  third  Rameses,  on  the 
other  hand,  are  represented  in  scenes  of  much  simplicity  and  liveliness  on  the 
walls  of  a  temple  at  Medinet  Abou  in  Thebes.  They  show  us,  among  other 
things,  how  the  Pharaoh  goes  lion-hunting  in  a  jungle  of  sedge  or  papyrus,  and 
again  how  he  takes  part  from  the  shore  in  a  fight  going  on  at  sea,  stepping  over 
corpses  of  the  dead  and  discharging  arrows  from  his  bended  bow.  In  spite  of 
the  shortcomings  we  have  discussed,  there  is  both  life  and  movement  in  these 
pictorial  military  reports,  as  we  may  call  them. 

It  is  in  tombs,  and  especially  in  the  tombs  of  the  Old  and  Middle  King- 
doms, that  we  encounter  the  domestic  class  of  subjects  ;  among  which  we  have 
already  mentioned,  as  deserving  the  name  of  true  paintings,  those  belonging 
to  the  twelfth  dynasty  at  Beni- Hassan.  These  are  scenes  of  which  the 
purpose  is  to  set  before  our  eyes  the  life  of  the  deceased  ;  hence  they  repro- 
duce, with  clearness  and  simplicity,  all  the  manifold  aspects  of  private  existence 
in  ancient  Egypt.  Hunting  and  fishing  incidents  are  represented  in  the  bas- 
reliefs  of  the  sepulchral  chambers  of  the  Pyramids  as  early  as  the  time  of  the 
fourth  and  fifth  dynasties.  Scenes  of  fruit-gathering,  primitively  enough  ren- 
dered, occur  in  the  fifth  dynasty  ;  the  sixth  introduces  animated  idyllic  pictures 
of  the  life  of  herdsmen  and  woodmen.  Pictures  of  the  same  kind,  more  natural 
and  lively  still,  occur  in  the  caves  of  Beni-Hassan  already  mentioned,  and  show 
us  the  dealings  of  man  with  nature  as  a  cultivator  of  the  soil,  surprising  us  often 
by  little  touches  of  truthful  and  even  humorous  observation.  Nor  are  these  all 
the  incidents  of  private  life  that  are  familiar  to  Egyptian  painting  ;  we  are 
introduced  besides  to  a  variety  of  arts  and  crafts,  to  scenes  of  music  and 
dancing,  of  navigation,  trade,  the  tribunals,  gymnastic  and  military  exercises, 
and   much   more.      We    see   women   busy  over   the  preparation   of  perfumes  ; 


ANCIENT  EGYPT  AND  THE  EAST.  19 

tumblers,  with  yellow  skins  and  their  hair  in  plaits,  playing  ball  with  black 
balls  ;  bald-headed  harpers  ;  female  mourners  at  the  funeral  ;  in  short, 
innumerable  persons  of  every  sort  and  condition  in  the  exercise  of  their  several 
callings. 

Landscapes  proper,  landscapes  for  their  own  sake,  are  naturally  foreign  to 
Egyptian  art,  although  we  find  extensive  background  views  of  the  kind  already 
described,  and  although  the  garden  scenes  which  find  their  place  in  some  of 
the  great  figure  compositions  almost  produce,  if  you  regard  them  b}-  themselves, 
the  effect  of  independent  landscapes  (we  speak  especially  of  certain  works  of 
the  twelfth  dynasty  at  Beni- Hassan,  and  of  the  eighteenth  at  Tel-el- A marna).^ 
They  enable  us  to  form  interesting  conclusions  as  to  the  s}'mmetrical  Egyptian 
mode  of  laying  out  gardens,  usually  in  strict  and  intelligent  obedience  to  prac- 
tical ends.  At  least  in  the  views  that  have  been  preserved,  utility  has  evidently 
held  the  first  place  in  the  plan,  though  pleasure-grounds  have  been  introduced 
also  in  suitable  places. 

Thus  the  wall-decorations  of  the  Egyptian  painters  spread  before  our  eyes 
a  whole  world  of  war  and  peace,  of  devotional  and  secular  occupation,  and  give 
us  a  picture  of  the  ways  and  doings  of  the  race  almost  more  complete  than 
either  Greece  or  Rome  has  left  us  of  their  own.  At  any  rate,  thanks  to  the 
durability  of  their  processes  and  the  dryness  of  their  climate,  the  Egyptians 
have  bequeathed  to  us  far  greater  areas  covered  with  works  of  the  painter's  art 
than  all  the  other  and  younger  races  of  heathen  antiquity.  In  comparison  with 
the  number  and  importance  of  these  monumental  paintings  of  the  Egyptians,  it 
is  hardly  worth  while  to  draw  attention  to  the  different  kinds  of  painting  which 
cover  almost  all  the  other  objects  of  their  handiwork  that  have  been  brought 
to  light,  and  especially  their  coffins,  or  mummy-cases,  both  inside  and  out. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  would  well  repay  the  student  to  examine  in  detail 
the  pictorial  representations  that  occur  in  the  written  papyrus  scrolls  ;  but  to  do 
this  is  alike  beyond  the  limits  of  our  space  and  the  present  state  of  Eg}'pto- 
logical  knowledge.  Enough  that  ^ch  occasional  illustrations  and  vignettes 
introduced  in  the  papyri  evidently- serve  the  same  purpose  as  the  miniatures 
in  early  Christian  and  mediaeval  manuscripts.  In  a  word,  they  are  strictly  the 
oldest  book-illuminations  in  the  world.  They  consist  usually  of  somewhat 
rude  outlines,  drawn,  like  the  text,  with  a  reed  pen  in  red  or  black  ;  but  some- 
times we  find  them  instead  painted  with  a  brush  in  several  colours,  and  occa- 
sionally even  rolls  are  found  which  are  full  of  such  paintings  and  nothing  else. 
The  scenes  represented  belong  chiefly  to  the  Ritual  of  the  Dead,  the  writings 
upon  which  they  occur  having  been  found  for  the  most  part  in  toinbs,  and 
constituting,  in  the  words  of  Lepsius,  a  kind  of  funeral  passport  designed  to 
secure  for  the  deceased  a  favourable  reception  at  the  man}'  gates  of  the  celestial 
regions.  These  subjects  occur  in  exceptional  excellence  in  the  Turin  copy, 
the   most  complete   of  several    that   have   been   found,  of  the   book   specifically 


20 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


known  as  "  the  Book  of  the  Dead." 
Another  celebrated  set  of  miniatures  is 
that  which  adorns  a  papyrus-roll  found 
at  Thebes  by  the  P>ench  Expedition 
in  1798,  and  now  in  the  Louvre.  The 
series  consists  of  a  number  of  ritual 
scenes  with  figures  of  gods,  men,  and 
animals.  It  is  noteworthy  that  these 
pictures  resemble  certain  mediaeval  minia- 
tures in  being  painted  in  bright  colours 
within  black  outlines.  The  illustrations 
in  this  case  occupy  the  upper  border  of 
the  manuscript,  and  this  is  a  common 
arrangement.  But  sometimes  they  are 
introduced  by  way  of  occasional  pictures 
separately  in  the  text,  and  a  pap}TUS 
at  the  Louvre  shows  clearly  how  in  such 
cases  the  scribe  has  left  the  required 
space  for  the  picture.  Often,  again,  the 
pictures  occupy  an  entire  roll.  There 
exists  one  roll  more  than  twenty  yards 
long,  which  represents  nothing  but 
funeral  ceremonies  painted  in  bright 
colours  and  heightened  with  gold.^ 

Caricature  is  a  branch  of  art  which 
we  should  not  have  supposed  conform- 
able to  the  serious  and  measured  attitude 
of  the  Eg}'ptian  mind  ;  but  that  it  was 
not  unknown  we  learn  from  a  pap}'rus 
in  tlie  l^ritish  Museum  which  exhibits, 
in  a- slight,  free,  and  far  from  conven- 
tional style  of  drawing,  a  parod}'  of  the 
bas-reliefs  carved  b}'  the  direction  of 
Rameses  II L  for  the  commemoration 
of  his  exploits,  on  the  walls  of  his 
palace  at  Medinet-Abou.  Cats  and  rats 
fighting  stand  in  the  parody  for  the 
heroes,  and  a  lion  toying  among  gazelles 
for  the  king  in  his  harem."  Thus  these 
drawings  and  paintings  on  the  papyri, 
though    they    teach     us     nothing     new 


'^■\-  5- 


ANCIENT  EGYPT  AND  THE  EAST.  .  21 

about   the    style  and    mode  of  treatment  of  Egj-ptian  art,  confirm  our  impres- 
sion of  the  range  and  variety  of  its  subjects. 

In  truth  there  was  no  theme  from  which  the  artists  of  Misraim  shrank  ; 
whatever  they  could  conceive  they  held  themselves  free  to  represent.  But  such 
representations,  as  we  have  by  this  time  fully  learnt,  are  in  their  essential 
scope  no  more  than  a  kind  of  picture-writing.  In  the  real  writing  of  the 
Egyptians,  the  characters,  and  sometimes  the  signs  for  entire  words,  consisted 
of  figures  of  actual  objects.  It  was  a  natural  step  from  this  to  set  forth  com- 
prehensive narratives  and  reports  of  events  in  the  form  of  pictures  on  a  large 
scale.  A  painted  chronicle — such  was  the  real  character  of  Egyptian  painting 
throughout  the  whole  of  its  history.  Independent  artistic  aims  the  art  could 
not  pursue  for  lack  of  means  ;  nor  could  it  hope  to  acquire  those  means  when 
it  had  once  given  up  the  comparative  truth  to  nature  which  is  observed  b)- 
the  oldest  school  of  sculpture,  and  allowed  itself  to  be  bound  in  the  bonds 
of  tradition,  convention,  and  canon.  Lepsius  calls  the  art  of  Egypt  "  a  child,  a 
strictly,  heedfully,  narrowly  brought  up  child;"  and  the  child  in  truth  never 
grew  nor  became  of  age.  The  network  of  sacerdotal  prescription,  which 
among  that  race  enmeshed  all  the  movements  of  man's  life,  paralysed  in  art 
also  the  power  of  individual  progress  and  the  chance  of  individual  eminence  ;  it 
is  therefore  no  wonder  that  out  of  all  that  multitude  of  toilers  there  emerges  no 
single  one  above  the  rest,  that  we  have  no  name  of  an  Egyptian  painter  to 
record,  and  that  if  the  arts  of  Egypt  may  be  said  to  have  a  history,  yet  history 
of  her  artists  there  is  none. 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE   MONARCHIES    OF   WESTERN   ASIA. 

Geographical  centres  —  The  three  Monarchies  —  Remains  of  the  first  Monarchy  —  Remains  of  the  second 
Monarchy — Assyrian  fresco-paintings — Assyrian  tile-paintings — Scale  of  colouring — Assyrian  sculptured 
reliefs — Composition  in  Assyrian  sculptured  reliefs — Remains  of  the  third  Monarchy — Babylonian 
tile-paintings— Description  of  lost  specimens — Shortcomings  of  Egyptian  and  Assyrian  compared  with 
Greek  painting. 

The  great  Mesopotamian  plain  is  the  geographical  starting-point  of  the  arts  of 
Western  Asia,  arts  of  which  the  common  progress  and  development  came  to 
a  close  about  the  time  of  the  Persian  wars.  The  countries  which  invented 
and  propagated  st)les  were  Babylonia  and  Assyria.  These  styles,  with  their 
strongly-marked  characteristics,  imposed  themselves  first  upon  the  Persians 
when  that  people  entered  upon  the  political  inheritance  of  Mesopotamia,  next 
upon  the  Asiatic  coasts  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  from  thence,  as  is  now  on  all 
hands  acknowledged,  w^ent  forth  to  exercise  a  powerful  influence  upon  the  arts 
of  Greece  herself  in  an  early  stage  of  their  development.  As  for  the  painting 
of  these  races,  although  scarcch^  any  vestiges  of  it  are  left,  we  can  nevertheless 
prove  that  this  art  played  a  considerable  part  in  the  cities  of  Mesopotamia,  and 
even  formed  a  conspicuous  element  in  the  external  decorations  of  their  palaces. 

Mesopotamia,  that  is  to  say  the  country  between  the  rivers  Euphrates  and 
Tigris,  exhibits  two  separate  seats  of  a  very  ancient  civilisation  :  in  the  south, 
Chaldea,  with  its  renowned  capital  of  Babylon  ;  in  the  north,  Assyria,  with  its 
not  less  renowned  Nineveh.  We  all  know  how  the  exploration  of  these  cities 
of  Babylon  and  Nineveh  is  an  achievement  of  our  own  century,  for  which  we 
are  indebted  to  the  enterprise  and  acuteness  of  the  great  English  and  French 
scholars  and  excavators  in  this  department,  Rawlinson,  Layard,  Oppert,  and 
others.^ 

During  the  centuries  of  the  greatness  of  these  countries,  to  which  the 
conquests  of  the  Persian  Cyrus  put  an  end,  the  ruling  influence  came  at  two 
separate  periods  from  the  south,  and  at  one  period  from  the  north.  The  order 
in  which  we  have  to  consider  the  arts  of  the  three  mighty  monarchies,  following 
the  course  of  their  chronology,  is  this:  I,  Old  Chaldea;  2,  Assyria;  3,  New 
Babylon. 

Of  the  oldest  of  these  kingdoms,  the  only  monuments  that  remain  are  con- 
fused heaps  of  brick  ruins.  Among  such  ruins,  those  of  Mugheir,  Warka,  and 
Abu-Scharein    are   especially  attributed    to   the   primeval   kingdom  of  Chaldea. 


ANCIENT  EGYPT  AND  THE  EAST.  23 

At  Warka  there  is  preserved  an  interesting  fragment  of  the  coloured  surface- 
decoration  of  an  external  wall,  in  the  shape  of  a  mosaic  pattern  composed  of 
sections  of  little  red,  white,  and  black  rods,  glazed  on  the  surface,  and  having  a 
carpet-like  effect.  It  has  been  attempted,  indeed,  to  show  that  the  whole 
system  of  wall-surface  decoration  in  Babylonian  and  Assyrian  art  was  a  develop- 
ment from  woven  rugs  or  hangings,  that  weaving  in  many  colours  was  among 
the  earliest  industries  of  those  countries,  but  that  figure  subjects  were  in  the 
first  instance  not  woven  into  the  pattern  of  such  hangings,  but  worked  upon 
them  in  embroidery.^  The  history  of  painting  begins  naturally  with  the  intro- 
duction of  figure  subjects.  Of  these  the  ruins  of  the  primeval  cities  of  Chaldea 
preserve  no  trace  as  applied  to  exterior  wall-surfaces,  neither  have  we  any 
written  evidence  on  the  matter.  The  interior  walls,  on  the  other  hand,  of 
certain  chambers  in  Abu-Scharein  do  show  traces  of  painted  decorations  upon 
a  plaster  surface.  In  one  of  them  there  could  be  made  out  the  figures  of  two 
men,  one  tall  and  the  other  short,  and  the  taller  bearing  upon  his  wrist  a  bird 
very  rudely  executed  in  red  ;  and  it  is  to  the  first  Chaldean  period  that 
Rawlinson  ascribes  this  attempt. 

The  second  great  monarchy  of  Mesopotamia  was  the  northern,  the  Ass}Tian, 
of  which  the  ascendency  began  about  B.C.  1 400.  The  ruins  of  its  palaces  have 
been  recovered  chiefly  at  the  three  sites  of  Nimrud,  Koyundschik,  and  Korsabat, 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  present  commercial  town  of  Mosul  on  the  Tigris. 
Here  too  the  ruling  art  was  architecture,  to  which  sculpture  and  painting  served 
in  subordination.  The  relations  of  the  handmaid  arts  to  their  superior  we  find 
to  be  constant  and  uniform  ;  and  of  those  relations,  thanks  to  the  combined 
efforts  of  Assyriologists  and  architects,  we  can  form  a  distinct  and  well-grounded 
conception.  The  lower  course  of  the  walls  of  the  huge  palaces  of  the  kings, 
built  usually  of  sun-dried  bricks,  were  encrusted,  both  inside  and  out,  with 
great  plates  of  alabaster  or  calcareous  stone  richly  decorated  w  ith  reliefs.  This 
system  of  facing  the  walls  at  the  same  time  increased  their  stabilitx',  and  contri- 
buted a  system  of  ornament  of  no  small  value  antl  iini)ressiveness.  This  decorated 
lower  course,  or  sculptured  podium,  so  to  speak,  of  the  structure  sometimes  con- 
sisted of  several  tiers,  one  above  another,  of  slabs  carved  in  relief;  and  above 
these  the  upper  part  of  the  walls  was  ornamented  again,  both  outside  and  in, 
with  paintings  sometimes  executed  on  a  plaster  ground,  and  sometimes  in 
encaustic  direct  upon  the  brick.  Of  such  Assyrian  paintings,  however,  the 
remains  actually  preserved  arc  slight  and  merely  fragmentary. 

As  to  the  paintings  on  a  plaster  ground,  they  seemed  to  have  belonged  exclu- 
sively to  the  inner  wall-surfaces.  The  mound  of  Ninnud  is  rich  in  evidences 
of  walls  having  been  dul)-  prepared  to  receive  such  paintings  ;  but  of  the 
pictures  themselves  hardly  a  trace  is  preserved.  The  reports  of  the  excavations, 
indeed,  contain  no  iiifre(jucnl  nicnlion  of  fragments  of  painting  found  upon  the 
plaster,  but  go  on  lU)  less  often  to  say  how  they  disappeared  almost  immediately 


24 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


after  they  were  brought  into  contact  with  the  air.  No  strict  technical  examina- 
tion of  these  remains  seems  to  have  been  made  at  the  time,  but  it  has  been 
conjectured  that  they  were  executed  in  distemper.  Neither  is  much  said  about 
their  subjects.  "  Monsieur  Place,"  says  Oppert,  in  his  Lecture  on  the  Principles  of 
Assyrian  Art,  "  found  some  frescoes  (.'')  at  the  entrance  of  the  harem  of  Sargon. 
Outside  the  earthen  wall  had  been  built  a  stone  wall  plastered  with  lime.  On 
this  were  painted  rosettes,  lions,  gods,  and  other  subjects.  My  travelling  com- 
panion. Monsieur  Thomas,  saw  and  copied  them,  and  has  thus  preserved  their 
record  ;  for  when  I  came  to  Nineveh  a  year  later,  I  saw  the  wall  indeed  still  in 
its  place,  but  the  coating  of  lime  with  its  paintings  had  only  survived  for  a  few 
days  the  excavation  which  withdrew  them  from  the  interment  in  which  they 
had  lain  protected  for  two  thousand  five  hundred  years." 


Fig.  6. 

Of  Assyrian  painted  tiles  there  have  been  preserved  fragments  of  somewhat 
more  importance.  They  too  come  chiefly  from  the  ruins  of  Nimrud.  Unfor 
tunately,  however,  no  single  one  of  such  tiles  has  been  recovered  quite  unbroken, 
still  less  has  it  been  possible  to  put  together  the  whole  of  any  subject,  which 
was  in  each  case  made  up  of  many  such  single  tiles.  Single  pieces  only  have 
been  saved,  with  fragments  of  trees,  animals,  and  human  figures  on  them.  The 
largest  of  these  fragments,  found  at  Nimrud,  represents  three  figures  walking 
behind  one  another,  and  the  front  half  of  a  fourth  personage  facing  the  first  of  the 


ANCIENT  EGYPT  AND  THE  EAST.  25 

three  (Fig.  6).  This  first  figure  we  recognise  by  his  tiara  as  a  king  returned 
from  the  chase  or  from  battle  ;  he  puts  to  his  Hps  the  cup  of  welcome  which 
has  been  handed  by  the  ser\^ant  facing  him  ;  or,  according  to  another  explana- 
tion, he  offers  a  drink-offering.  Two  servants  follow  ;  first  a  beardless  eunuch 
with  a  sword,  bow,  and  quiver  ;  next,  a  bearded  spear-bearer,  with  pointed  cap, 
short  coat,  and  bare  legs.  These  figures  are  only  nine  inches  high.  Others 
seem  as  a  rule  not  to  have  been  larger  than  this,  so  that  the  whole  of  each  could 
be  represented  on  a  single  tile.  There  have  been  found,  however,  the  separate 
parts  of  some  figures  of  which  the  size  shows  that  each  must  have  covered 
several  tiles.  Layard  found  one  tile  at  Nimrud  on  which  was  depicted  part  of 
a  face  that  must  have  belonged  to  a  figure  three  feet  high  ;  but  this  is  mentioned 
as  an  unusual  size. 

The  existing  remains,  which  furnish  examples  of  painting  perhaps  as  good 
as  any  that  Assyria  produced,  enable  us  to  draw  very  interesting  conclusions  as 
to  the  style  and  treatment  of  such  representations.  What  immediatel}-  strikes 
us  is  the  use  of  a  broad,  strong  outline,  resembling  that  of  certain  mediaeval 
paintings.  This  is  alwa)'S  a  sharp  and  distinct  band  of  colour,  contrasting  not 
only  with  the  colour  of  the  background,  but  also  with  that  which  it  encloses  ; 
nay,  contrary  to  the  practice  of  all  other  schools,  this  broad  outline  in  Assyrian 
painting  is  lighter  than  the  rest  of  the  picture,  being  pale  yellow,  or  even  white. 
Only  where  finer  outlines  appear,  as  round  the  head  of  the  largest  Assyrian 
fragment  already  mentioned,  are  they  indeed  of  a  darker  brown.  For  the  rest, 
the  Assyrian  scale  of  colour  was  very  limited  ;  and  there  is  as  little  trace  to  be 
found  here  as  in  Egyptian  art  of  any  blending  of  colours,  or  of  the  employment 
of  light  and  shadow,  modelling,  or  anything  in  the  nature  of  chiaroscuro.  The 
outlines  are  broadly  filled  in  with  a  few  simple  tints.  The  ground  from 
which  the  figures  stand  out  is  pale  olive  green,  reddish,  or  blue.  The  flesh 
is  painted  of  a  yellow  hue,  and  it  is  rarely  that  this  tone  is  sufficiently  broken 
with  red,  as  it  is  in  the  larger  fragment  we  have  mentioned,  to  produce  any  real 
effect  of  flesh -colour.  Besides  these,  brown  and  black  were  used,  according 
to  Rawlinson,  for  hair,  e}'es,  and  eyebrows,  and  sometimes  for  bows  and 
sandals  ;  men,  chariots,  vessels,  weapons,  helmets,  wing-feathers,  gold  ornaments, 
and  sometimes  horses,  were  painted  yellow  ;  other  horses,  shields,  feathers,  fishes, 
and  dresses,  blue  ;  white  appears  in  the  eyes,  in  the  linen  shirts  of  men,  in  the 
tiaras  of  kings,  and  other  objects,  also  in  horses  and  buildings  ;  olivc-grcen  seems 
only  to  appear  in  backgrounds,  red  only  in  certain  parts  of  the  royal  head- 
dress, orange  and  lilac  in  the  plumes  of  winged  monsters.  Evidently  the  scale 
of  pigments  known  to  the  Assyrians  was  not  sufficient  to  represent  all  objects  in 
their  natural  colours.  We  must  only  think  of  their  colouring  as  an  appro.ximate 
imitation  of  reality  ;  for  we  can  hardl}'  imagine  the  AssNM'ians  to  have  been  really 
dressed  in  such  few  and  quiet  colours  as  would  appear  by  these  tile-paintings. 

To  complete  such  idea  of  the  character  and  s}-stcm  of  Assyrian  painting  as 

]•; 


26  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

we  have  been  able  to  form  from  these  scanty  fragments,  we  shall  do  well  to 
glance  at  their  sculptured  work  of  the  same  period, — we  mean  at  those  great 
relief-slabs  which  have  withstood  the  lapse  of  time  so  far  as  concerns  their  carven 
substance,  though  not,  unfortunate!}',  in  the  freshness  of  the  soft  colouring  with 
which  originally  they  were  entirely  covered.  The  subjects  of  such  sculpture  are 
taken  wholly  from  the  life  of  the  king.  But  while  in  Egyptian  painting  the 
religious  relations  of  the  king  to  the  gods  hold  a  conspicuous  place,  the  scenes 
which  the  Assyrians  thought  worthy  of  being  immortalised  in  art  were  almost 
entirely  of  a  worldly  nature.  The  despotism  of  Asia  suppresses  sacerdotal 
ambition.  The  walls  are  filled  with  reliefs  of  great  public  ceremonies^ 
hunting  or  battle  pieces,  processions  of  conquerors  returning  with  the  spoil, 
and  triumphal  revels.  M)'thic  and  symbolic  monsters  apart,  the  imitation 
of  nature  is  evidently  the  watchword  of  the  Assyrian.  Although  single 
classes  of  objects,  as  trees,  may  be  treated  even  more  conventionally  here 
than  in  Egj^pt,  still  there  is  nothing  of  the  rigid  and  universal  obedience  to 
a  prescribed  scheme  which  we  find  there.  True,  figures  in  repose  stand 
with  both  feet  flat  upon  the  ground,  one  before  the  other  ;  true,  the  chest  is 
often  represented  in  front  view  in  a  manner  which  cannot  be  reconciled 
with  the  profile  position  of  the  head  and  legs  ;  true,  we  scarcely  find  a  trace 
of  individuality  or  animation  in  the  features  ;  but  all  this  is  not  the  con- 
sequence, as  it  is  in  Eg^'pt,  of  a  prescribed  and  unalterable  canon.  Conven- 
tionalism does  not  rest  here  on  authoritative  laws,  but  on  the  natural  limits 
of  the  powers  of  representation.  Accordingly,  the  short,  strong,  muscular,  often 
too  fleshy  t)-pc  of  the  Assyrian  race  as  it  really  was,  with  the  Semitic  head  and 
aquiline  nose,  thick  lips,  full  cheeks,  heavy  puffed  eyelids,  and  bushy  highly- 
arched  brows,  reflects  itself  distinctly  in  the  art  of  the  country.  An  advance  is 
plainly  noticeable,  within  comparatively  few  centuries,  from  the  rigidit}-  and 
uncouthness  of  the  archaic  style,  which  represented  the  muscles  of  the  leg  stand- 
ing out  separately,  almost  like  a  pattern  embroidered  on  leather,  to  a  freedom 
and  truth  to  nature  which  almost  approach  the  art  of  Greece.  The  best  works, 
especially  animal  pieces,  show  such  a  close  observation  of  nature  combined  with 
such  a  realistic  power  of  representation,  that  Oppert  has  for  this  reason  called 
the  Assyrians  the  Dutchmen  of  antiquity. 

For  the  history  of  painting,  the  inquiry  which  most  concerns  us  in  connec- 
tion with  these  reliefs  is,  What  system  of  grouping  the  parts  of  a  great  composi- 
tion do  they  exhibit,  especially  of  grouping  them  in  relation  to  the  background  .'' 
'  It  must  be  premised  that  the  Assyrian  artist,  like  the  Egyptian,  had  for 
his  first  object  to  tell  his  story  clearly,  simply,  and  in  chronological  sequence. 
The  Assyrian  succeeded  best  ;  many  symbolical  expedients  of  Egyptian  art  he 
was  able  to  cast  aside,  and  his  arrangement  of  great  compositions  is  conspicu- 
ously simpler  and  more  like  nature.  Particularly  the  connection  of  the  action 
with  its  scener)'  is   often  exhibited  in  a  manner  much  more  adapted  to  produce 


ANCIENT  EGYPT  AND  THE  EAST. 


27 


upon  the  eye  something  like  a  true  idea  of  space.  It  is  plain,  indeed,  that  the 
Assyrians  had  no  just  idea  of  the  laws  and  limits  of  relief  as  distinguished 
from  painting,  for  they  constantly  and  with  great  ostentation  attempt  in  their 
reliefs  to  throw  up  the  principal  action  against  a  complete  natural  background  ; 
a  task  properly  to  be  undertaken  by  painting  alone,  and  one  which  Greek 
painting  itself  only  undertook  after  a  period  of  probation  in  which  it  had 
acquired  the  necessary  technical  strength  and  freedom.  Naturally  this  attempt 
of  the  Assyrians  failed  ;  their  art  shows  a  greater  feeling  for  perspective  than 
that    of  Egypt,    but   no   scientific  knowledge    of  it.      The   mixture  of  ground- 


Fig.  7. 

plan  and  elevation  does  not  occur  regularly  as  in  Egypt  ;  but  similar  arbitrary 
devices  are  not  wanting :  we  do  find  occasionally  trees,  hills,  and  towers, 
drawn  with  their  tops  downmost,  and  constantly  trees  drawn  at  divergent 
angles  from  the  hills  on  which  they  stand.  Moreover  all  these  backgrounds 
produce  an  overcrowded  effect,  and  in  the  representation  of  man\'  things,  as  in 
the  brushwood  on  a  mountain  side,  the  artist  is  apt  to  repeat  what  looks  like  a 
regular  stamped  or  stencilled  pattern,  producing  an  effect  quite  at  variance 
with  his  realistic  endeavours  in  other  points.  Water,  on  the  contrary,  though 
still  conventional,  is  treated  with  much  greater  freedom  than  in  Egypt.  In 
place  of  spaces  filled  with  stiff,  regular,  upright  zigzags,  there  appears  a  free 
wave-line,  varied  here  and  there  by  formal  spirals,  which  are  irregularly  dis- 
tributed where  the  sea  is  figured,  but  repeated  at  equal  intervals  where  rivers 
are  meant  (Fig.  7). 

In  the  sixth  century  before  our  era,  the  supremacy  of  Assyria  in  the 
Mesopotamian  regions  was  superseded  by  the  renewed  empire  of  Babylon,  which 
reached  the  height  of  its  prosperity  under  Nebuchadnezzar.  The  art  of  this  Neo- 
l^abylonian  period  followed  essentially  the  principles  which  had  been  developed 
by  the  Assyrians,  principles  originally  received  by  them  in  their  turn,  most  likely, 
from  the  priincNal  empire  of  C'haldea.  A  difference  in  the  building  materials 
proper  to   the  more   southerly  region  of  Babylon   produced   somewhat   different 


2  8  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

conditions  in  monumental  art,  the  only  art  of  these  nations  with  which  we  are 
acquainted.  Alabaster  and  limestone,  which  the  Assyrians  could  quarr}-  in  the 
neighbouring  mountains,  the  Babylonians  had  not  got.  They  could  not  therefore, 
like  their  northern  neighbours,  face  the  lower  parts  of  the  walls  of  their  palaces 
with  slabs  carved  in  relief;  and  it  is  quite  by  exception  that  such  carvings  are 
found  in  the  ruined  cities  of  Babylon.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Chaldeans  had 
at  command  a  far  finer  clay  for  making  tiles  than  the  Assyrians,  and  hence  this 
industry  was  carried  to  perfection.  External  walls  were  almost  entirely  faced 
with  glazed  tiles,  and  the  art  of  painting  and  enamelling  such  tiles  was  carried 
to  great  excellence.  Oppert  expressly  declares  that  the  tile-painting  of  Nineveh 
is  to  that  of  Babylon  as  water-colour  to  oil^  The  walls  of  Babylon,  then,  shone 
with  a  deeper,  warmer,  and  more  varied  splendour  than  those  of  Nineveh  ;  or, 
as  Rawlinson  says,  by  the  side  of  Assyria,  her  colder  and  severer  sister  of  the 
north,  Bab}'lon  showed  herself  a  true  child  of  the  south,  rich,  glowing,  careless 
of  the  rules  of  taste,  only  desiring  to  awaken  admiration  by  the  dazzling 
brilliance  of  her  appearance. 

The  coloured  and  glazed  tiles  of  Babylon,  however,  were  far  from  being 
always  ornamented  in  imitation  of  nature.  Man)-  must  only  have  carried  a 
regular  carpet-like  pattern  ;  others  seem  to  have  been  coloured  in  plain  colour. 
Instances  of  this  last  treatment  have  been  found  in  the  famous  terrace-temple  of 
Borsippe,  near  Babylon,  the  ruins  of  which  were  discovered  at  the  modern 
Birs-Nimrud.  But  we  know,  both  from  ancient  writers  and  from  remains,  that 
many  other  buildings  of  the  mighty  capital  were  decorated  with  tile-pictures 
properly  so  called.  Among  ancient  writers,  there  is  the  Hebrew  prophet 
Ezekiel,  who  speaks^"  (chap,  xxiii.  14,  15)  of  "  men  pourtrayed  upon  the  wall, 
the  images  of  the  Chaldeans  pourtrayed  with  vermilion,  girded  with  girdles 
upon  their  loins,  exceeding  in  dyed  attire  upon  their  heads,  all  of  them  princes 
to  look  to,  after  the  manner  of  the  Babylonians  of  Chaldea,  the  land  of  their 
nativity."  Semper  thinks  these  words  must  refer  to  tapestries  ;  we  prefer,  how- 
ever, with  most  other  critics,  to  understand  them  of  enamelled  tile- paintings. 
Among  Greek  writers,  Diodorus  Siculus,  following  Ktesias,  reports  thus  of  the 
scenes  figured  on  one  of  the  walls  of  Babylon  :^^ — "  Here  were  various  kinds  of 
animals  represented  on  baked  tiles  to  the  life  both  in  colour  and  drawing  ;"  and 
farther  on,  in  describing  another  wall  : — "  Animals  of  all  kinds  were  figured  on 
the  towers  and  walls,  and  both  as  regards  colour  and  truth  to  nature  were 
rendered  according  to  all  the  rules  of  art.  The  whole  represented  a  chase  full 
of  animals  of  the  most  varied  kinds,  each  more  than  four  cubits  in  size.  1  n  the 
midst  was  Semiramis  discharging  a  javelin  from  horseback  at  a  panther, 
and  close  beside  her  was  her  husband  Ninus  in  the  act  of  spearing  a  lion." 
The  Greek  writer  seems,  as  has  been  justly  observed,  to  have  taken  the 
eunuch  who  usually  accompanies  the  king  for  his  wife  ;  and  indeed  we  should 
not  have  been  able  to  attach  any  great  importance  either  to  our  Hebrew  or  our 


ANCIENT  EGYPT  AND  THE  EAST.  29 

Greek  witness  in  the  matter,  if  their  evidence  had  not  been  confirmed  partly 
by  the  analogy  of  the  Assyrian  hunting  reliefs,  partly  by  existing  fragments  of 
Babylonian  tiles. 

It  is  not  unusual  to  find  such  fragments  among  the  ruins  of  Babylon. 
Oppert  had  collected  a  whole  cargo  of  them  for  the  Louvre,  which  how- 
ever sank  in  the  Tigris  soon  after  it  was  got  on  board.  He  describes  them 
thus  : — "  The  plain-coloured  fragments  would  not  have  surprised  us,  as  we 
knew  of  their  existence,  and  the  sight  of  Mohammedan  mosques  and  minarets 
had  accustomed  us  to  the  employment  of  glazed  tiles  of  this  character.  But 
we  found  many-coloured  fragments  also,  which  evidently  belonged  to  a  scheme 
of  encaustic  decoration  in  low  relief.  We  found,  among  others,  pieces  of  which 
the  ground  was  blue  and  the  raised  parts  yellow  ;  on  these  raised  yellow  parts 
was  drawn  in  black  outlines  a  system  of  conventional  lumps,  like  that  which 
indicates  a  wooded  mountain  country  on  the  Ninevite  bas-reliefs.  The  raising 
of  the  tile-surface  made  this  part  of  the  representation  more  conspicuous  ;  it 
was  a  combination  of  painting  with  the  lowest  possible  relief.  We  found 
several  pieces  of  this  kind  representing  mountains  or  woods.  Other  fragments 
showed  a  system  of  bluish  wave-lines,  as  if  intended  to  represent  water  ;  others 
bore  the  remains  of  walls  and  natural  trees.  Another  class  of  painted  tiles 
carried  portions  of  animal  subjects  ;  thus  we  found  a  horse's  hoof  and  parts  of 
a  lion,  the  mane  and  tail  in  particular.  A  broad  black  line  drawn  across  a 
blue  ground  ma\-  very  well  have  stood  for  a  huntsman's  spear.  Again,  we  saw 
a  human  eye  drawn  full  in  front,  although  what  remained  above  the  eye 
seemed  to  belong  to  a  face  drawn  in  profile.  M.  Fresnel  supposed  this,  not 
without  reason,  to  be  the  eye  of  either  the  king  or  the  queen  who,  according  to 
Ktesias,  were  depicted  on  the  palace  walls.  Other  remains  of  a  human  figure 
completed  the  interesting  collection  which  we  made  at  the  excavations  at  the 
Kasr."  This  account  confirms  the  statement  of  the  Greek  writer,  as  well  as 
our  own  supposition,  that  the  backgrounds  represented  on  Mesopotamian  tile- 
paintings  must  have  been  like  those  on  Assyrian  carvings.  Oppert's  description 
also  makes  it  clear  from  the  outset  that  these  tile-paintings  were,  in  strictness, 
works  not  on  the  flat  but  in  relief,  yet  in  relief  so  slight  as  not  esscntiall}'  to 
interfere  with  their  pictorial  character. 

As  compared,  then,  with  the  strides  which  wc  shall  see  the  art  of  painting 
make  in  Greece,  the  work  of  all  these  eastern  nations  stands  at  the  same 
backward  and  primitive  stage.  While  architecture  and  sculpture  in  Egypt 
and  Mesopotamia  arc  in  almost  full  possession  of  their  resources,  and  fall 
short  of  perfection  rather  in  consequence  of  certain  national  characteristics 
than  for  want  of  technical  maturit)-,  painting  has  not  )-ct  mastered  the 
alphabet  of  its  own  science  and  power.  As  tliese  races  understood  it,  paint- 
ing was  an  art  (liffcring  scarcely  if  at  all  from  relief,  by  which  disconnected 
figures  were  drawn,  often  lieljilessly  enough,  in  outline,  and  then  conventionally 


30  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

tinted  ;  an  art  to  which  it  had  not  become  clear  how  a  single  figure  seen  from 
different  sides,  or  even  seen  from  one  and  the  same  side,  could  be  correctly 
represented  on  the  flat,  and  which  was  quite  inadequate  to  depict  larger 
compositions  with  natural  backgrounds  and  all  the  combinations  necessarj' 
to  a  true  picture.  'The  Egyptian  as  well  as  the  Assyrian  artist  had  some  dim 
feeling  that  there  existed  a  possibility  of  imitating  on  a  flat  surface  a  portion  of 
the  outer  world  in  all  particulars  as  it  appears  to  our  eye  ;  but  their  efforts 
to  solve  the  problem  failed.  It  may  seem  strange  that  neither  Egyptians  nor 
Chaldeans,  who  were  good  mathematicians  as  well  as  close  observers  of  natural 
phenomena,  should  have  made  out  the  laws  of  perspective.  But  this  is 
only  one  of  a  hundred  cases  in  which  knowledge  that  seems  close  at  hand  has 
lain  for  centuries  undiscovered.  Eastly,  the  artist  of  the  ancient  East  did  not 
understand  how  to  depict  the  emotions  in  the  face.  Hence  the  painting  of  the 
Eg\-ptians  and  Mesopotamians  was  wanting  in  that  Ethos  which  delighted  the 
Greeks  in  the  work  of  their  own  painters  even  when  technically  it  was  scarcely 
more  advanced.  Hence,  too,  the  figure-painting  of  the  nations  of  which  we 
have  thus  far  spoken,  successful  so  far  as  concerns  its  special  purpose  of 
exhibiting  a  clear  and  comprehensive  chronicle  of  events,  is  at  the  same  time 
no  more,  so  far  as  it  concerns  its  artistic  effect,  than  a  piece  of  tapestry  or 
embroidery  done  into  stone,  and  can  only  be  estimated  according  to  the  value 
it  may  have,  with  its  conventional  or  fantastic  figures,  as  a  piece  of  coloured 
wall-decoration. 


APPENDIX. 


1.  The  chief  authorities  to  be  consulted  for  tliis  subject  are  : — Lepsius,  Die  Chronologie  der  ALgypter. 
Brugsch,  Histotj-e  d''Egypte,  2d.  ed.  Lenormant,  Les  origines  de  la  Civilisation.  Maspero,  Histoij-e  des 
Petiples  de  r Oriait.      Schnaase,  Geschichte  der  bildenden  Kilnste  (2d.  ed.),  I.  §§  241-384. 

2.  The  following  are  amongst  the  most  important  works  illustrating  Egyptian  painting  : — Gau,  Anti' 
quith  de  la  Niibie.  Rossellini,  /  Monitmenti  delP  Egitto  e  dclla  A'libia.  Lepsius,  Deiikmdle?-  aus  ^gypten 
7ind  ALthiopieii.  Prisse  d' Avenues,  Atlas  pour  rHistoire  de  PArt  Egyptien.  As  the  text  in  some  of  these 
great  publications  is  wanting  or  incomplete,  and  as,  in  any  case,  it  is  not  always  made  clear  as  to  which 
of  the  three  classes  a  given  illustration  belongs, — viz.  (i.)  painted  bas-relief,  (2.)  painted  KoiXaudyXixpov 
or  sunk  relief,  and  (3.)  painting  on  the  flat — so  there  is  the  better  reason  for  not  too  strongly  insisting  on 
these  distinctions  in  the  text. 

3.  See  Diimichen,  Historische  Inschriften  altiigyptischer  Denkmdler. 

4.  See  Schweinfurth,  Ivi  Herzen  von  Afrika,  vol.  ii.  p.  433. 

5.  For  particulars  concerning  these  works,  consult  K.  Woermann,  Die  Landschaft  in  der  Kitnst  dei- 
alien  Vblker  (Munich,   1876). 

6.  Bruno  Bucher,  Geschichte  der  technischen  A'iinste,  vol.  i.  p.   1 74. 

7.  Both  the  original  scenes  and  their  caricatures  are  figured  in  Lepsius,  Ausrvahl  der  wic/itigsten 
Ui-ktinden,  PI.  xxiii. 

8.  The  chief  publications  are  the  following  : — Layard,  The  Motiuments  of  N'inei'eh  (1849-53.)  Botta 
and  Flandin,  Monuments  de  Ninive  (1849-50).  Place,  Ninive  et  FAssyrie  (1867).  Consult  also — 
J.  Oppert,  Expedition  scientifiqne  en  Mesopotaniie,  vol.  i.  (1863).  Rawlinson,  The  Five  Great  Monarchies 
of  the  Ancient  Eastern  World,  2d  ed,  1871.  Lenormant,  Les  Antiquites  de  Babylone  et  de  PAssyrie,  1868. 
Schnaase,  Geschichte  de?-  bildenden  Kiinste,  2d  ed.  i.  146  sqq.  Reber,  Kiinsigeschichte  des  Alterthums, 
1 87 1,  p.  45  sqq.  Oppert,  Griindziige  der  Assyrischen  Kiinst,  1872.  And  compare  Semper,  Der  Stil,  §§ 
65,  67,  68,  69;  and  Liibke,  Geschichte  der  Plastik,  2d  ed,  1871. 

9.  Semper,  in  the  work  referred  to  above,  has  made  himself  especially  the  champion  of  this  theory. 
Diod.  Sicul.,  Biblioth.  Hist.  ii.  8. 

10.  Ezekiel  xxiii.  14,  15. 

11.  Diod.  Sicul.,  Biblioth.  Hist.  ii.  8. 


BOOK    11. 


PAINTING   IN   ANCIENT   GREECE  AND   ITALY. 


CHAPTER    I. 


INTRODUCTORY. 


Relation  of  painting  to  sculpture  in  Greece — Relation  of  existing  remains  to  the  recorded  masterpieces  of 
the  art — Histor}'  of  Painting  according  to  literary  records  to  be  separated  from  the  same  history 
according  to  existing  remains — History  of  Roman  not  to  be  separated  from  history  of  Greek  painting — 
Distance  between  achievement  of  Greeks  and  Orientals  greater  in  painting  than  in  sculpture. 

It  is  an  acknowledged  fact  that  on  the  soil  of  Greece  art  first  shook  off  all  her 
fetters,  and  grew  strong  in  deliberate  freedom  till  she  became  a  power  able  alike 
to  delight  the  mind  and  senses  of  man,  and  to  satisfy  and  elevate  his  moral 
being.  In  this  high  estimate  of  the  arts  of  Greece,  it  is  usual  to  give  the 
first  place  to  sculpture  ;  nay,  it  has  been  said  and  repeated  to  satiet}',  that  the 
genius  of  the  race  was  above  all  things  a  plastic  genius,  and  that  the  plastic 
feeling,  or  feeling  which  finds  its  natural  expression  in  sculpture,  pervades  all 
the  other  arts  of  the  Greeks  as  well,  and  asserts  itself  in  their  poetry  and  archi- 
tecture not  less  than  in  their  sculpture  itself  And  it  is  true  that  towards 
sculpture  everything  seemed  to  direct  the  powers  of  the  Greek — the  landscape 
which  surrounded  him,  his  own  physical  beauty,  the  customs  of  his  life,  the 
forms  and  temper  of  his  religion.  It  is  true,  again,  that  he  brought  sculpture  to 
perfection  much  earlier  than  he  did  painting.  But  it  would  be  a  great  mistake 
to  infer  from  the  splendid  genius  of  the  sculptors  of  ancient  Greece  that  her 
painters  were  more  doubtfully  gifted.  Classical  literature  would  of  itself  make 
such  an  opinion  improbable ;  for  ancient  writers  have  left  praises  not  less 
enthusiastic  of  painters  than  of  sculptors.  Polygnotos,  Zeuxis,  Parrhasios, 
Timanthes,  Protogenes,  and  Apelles  arc  just  as  celebrated  in  prose  and  verse 
as  Myron,  Pheidias,  Praxiteles,  Skopas,  and  Lysippos.  Just  as  many  marvels 
are  related  of  the  works  of  painters,  and  of  the  point  of  illusion  to  which 
they  imitated  nature,  as  of  the  triumphs  of  the  plastic  art. 

If,  then,  doubts  as  to  the  merits  of  Greek  painting  have  been  entertained, 
they  must  have  been  suggested  by  the  fact  that  so  (c\v  remains  of  this  art  have 
been  preserved  to  us  from  classical  antiquit}'.  We  must  steadily  insist  on  the 
fact  that  no  single  work  of  an\-  one  of  tlie  famous  painters  recognised  in  the 
history  of  Greek  art  has  survived  to  our  time  ;  ami  that  we  cannot  from  actual 
inspection  form  a  judgment  as  to  the  merits  of  ;m\-  one  of  the  Greek  paintings 
extolled  by  ancient  authors.  The*  nuinhi-r  of  ancient  paintings  l)y  this  time 
recovered  from  the  soil  is  indeed  vcr\'  large.  Out  of  Greek  and  Italian  tombs 
have  been  brought  to  light  inan\-  thousand  vases   adorned  with   painted  figures. 


36  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

We  can  count  by  hundreds  the  ancient  mosaic  pavements  with  pictorial  designs 
which  have  been  discovered  on  both  sides  of  the  Alps.  Painted  stone  tablets 
and  sarcophagi  are  by  no  means  rare.  But  it  is  above  all  from  the  thousands 
of  ancient  mural  paintings  which  have  been  recovered  from  the  soil  of 
Italy,  partly  in  Etruscan  tombs,  partly  in  Rome  and  its  neighbourhood,  partly 
in  Lower  Italy,  and  especially  in  the  Campanian  towns  destroyed  by  Vesuvius, 
that  we  can  form  a  really  lively  conception  of  what  the  painting  of  the  Greeks 
and  the  Italians  was  like.  Of  all  these  pictures,  however,  there  is  not,  perhaps, 
one  which  can  be  identified  with  any  work  noticed  by  ancient  authors  ;  in  not 
one  can  we  recognise  with  certainty  the  repetition  of  the  motive  of  any  design 
known  to  us  from  other  sources.  It  is  true  that  modern  archaeologists  have  often 
tried  to  recognise  in  mural  paintings  and  mosaics  now  extant  repetitions  of  original 
pictures  celebrated  in  the  history  of  ancient  art  ;  and  with  a  certain  degree  of 
success  ;  in  some  cases  such  a  connection  has  been  shown  to  be  highly  probable, 
but  positive  certainty  has  never  been  attained.  In  any  case,  these  possible 
imitations  of  great  masterpieces,  like  all  the  ancient  paintings  that  have  been 
preserved  to  us,  are  works  marked  by  the  conventional  st\'le  which  might  be 
expected  from  decorative  craftsmen,  and  we  must  be  very  cautious  in  any 
attempt  to  argue  from  their  technical  treatment  to  the  style  of  original  works 
by  the  great  artists  of  antiquity.  True,  many  of  these  ornamental  vase-paintings, 
decorative  mosaics,  and  wall-pictures,  were  clearly  produced  by  workers  whose 
skill  came  very  near  to  being  real  and  free  art,  and  who  were  conscious  enough 
of  their  own  powers  to  put  their  names  to  their  work  (in  the  case,  that  is,  of 
man\-  vase-paintings  and  some  few  mosaics).  But  not  one  of  the  names  pre- 
ser\-cd  upon  existing  works  is  among  those  celebrated  in  the  literary  history 
of  art. 

Under  these  circumstances,  the  difficulty  of  writing  a  connected  history 
of  painting  in  classical  antiquity  is  evident.  The  natural  method  of  a  his- 
tory of  art — that  of  illustrating,  explaining,  and  if  necessary  correcting,  the 
literary  records  concerning  artists  by  comparison  with  their  existing  works — 
is  of  course  put  almost  out  of  the  question.  But  the  employment  of  such 
works  for  the  elucidation  of  our  literary  records  needs  not  to  be  altogether  given 
up,  although  they  can  only  serve  in  a  ver}-  few  instances  to  establish  the  definite 
character  of  any  artist.  At  the  outset,  therefore,  the  history  of  Greco-Roman 
painting  according  to  ancient  writings  must  be  separated  from  its  history 
according  to  existing  remains.  The  former,  which  will  here  be  treated  first  in  a 
separate  chapter,  will  constitute  a  brief  documentaiy  history  at  once  of  artists  and 
of  art  in  the  higher  sense.  The  latter,  with  which  we  ^shall  deal  in  separate 
chapters  later  on,  will  be  really  only  the  history  of  certain  decorative  branches 
of  art-industry  ;  branches,  however,  which  in  the  absence  of  other  materials  are 
of  the  highest  importance  for  our  study. 

In   architecture,  it    is   possible   to    make   a   distinction    between    Greek   and 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  37 

Roman  art  ;  but  scarcely  in  sculpture,  and  not  at  all  in  painting.  Not  but 
what  the  paintings  discovered  on  Italian  soil  present  plenty  of  native  elements, 
which  it  is  possible  to  separate  from  the  elements  introduced  from  Greece,  and 
to  which  we  shall  in  due  place  call  attention.  Nevertheless,  in  the  history  of 
ancient  artists,  those  of  Rome  come  but  as  an  appendix  after  those  of  Greece  ; 
and  in  the  account  of  their  works,  though  a  few  may  have  to  be  put  aside 
as  untouched  b}-  the  Greek  spirit,  yet  with  the  vast  majority,  even  of  those 
found  on  Italian  soil,  it  is  not  so.  Of  the  vases  found  in  Italy,  most  must  be 
regarded  as  of  Greek  manufacture  and  decoration  ;  of  the  mural  paintings, 
most  belong  manifestly  to  the  Hellenistic  age  ;  they  are  the  work  of 
Romans,  but  of  Romans  having  no  other  ambition  but  to  tread  as  closely 
as  they  can  in  the  footsteps  of  the  Greeks.  Indeed,  what  would  be  the 
reverse  of  true  for  sculpture  is  true  for  painting — that  upon  Italian  soil  have 
been  found  the  remains  which  give  us  our  best  idea  of  what  had  once  been 
the  technical  capabilities  and  mastery  of  Greek  art.  And  one  inference  at  any 
rate  is  certain,  that  in  pictorial  resources,  such  as  the  employment  of  linear  and 
aerial  perspective  and  the  like,  not  to  speak  of  the  matters  of  intellect  and 
invention,  the  masterpieces  of  ancient  art  at  its  best  cannot  possibly  have 
been  less  accomplished  than  are  the  ordinary  wall  decorations  of  Rome  and 
Campania. 

-  By  comparison  with  the  East,  Greece,  it  must  be  understood  from  the  first, 
la\-s  the  art  of  painting  upon  new  foundations  as  distinctly  as  she  does  any  of 
the  other  arts.  Nay,  while  in  sculpture  the  Greeks  had  onl}^  to  ennoble  by  their 
own  clearer  genius  and  higher  instinct  of  style  the  results  already  gained  by  the 
Eg\'ptians  and  Assyrians,  in  painting  they  effected  nothing  short  of  a  revolution, 
which  they  may  not  have  followed  out,  as  the  moderns  have  followed  it,  to  its 
last  and  most  complex  consequences,  but  by  right  of  which  they  }-et  deserve  the 
glory  of  having  first  made  painting  a  truthful  mirror  of  realities.  Naturally, 
this  revolution  was  not  effected  all  at  once.  We  can  follow  it  through  a  whole 
series  of  successive  phases.  We  shall  see  how  Greek  painting  at  first  only 
differed  from  Egyptian  and  Assyrian  by  a  spiritual  difference,  and  not  b)-  any 
technical  superiorit}- ;  and  then  how  it  freed  itself  from  one  disabilit}-  after 
another,  by  steps  not  more  sure  and  rapid  than  they  are  easy  to  trace  ;  until  at 
last  it  differentiated  itself  completely  from  sculpture,  w  ith  which  it  had  been  at 
first  bound  up,  and  like  sculpture,  though  centuries  later,  stood  in  the  cxcfcise 
of  all  its  long  latent  resources,  self-accomplished,  separate,  and  free. 


CHAPTER    II. 

GREEK  AND  ROMAN  PAINTING  ACCORDING  TO  THE  ANCIENT  WRITERS. 

Origin  of  Greek  painting  ;  probable  derivation  from  weaving  and  embroidery — Anecdotes  of  the  ancient 
Writers — Probable  date  of  the  improvements  attributed  to  Eumaros  and  Kimon — Polygnotos ;  his  date 
and  career;  his  works  at  Athens,  Plataiai,  Thespiai,  Delphi  —  Pictorial  character  of  the  works  of 
Polygnotos  and  his  school — Their  ethical  and  ideal  character — ^Judgments  of  the  ancients  concerning 
Polygnotos — Agatharchos  of  Samos,  scene-painter  and  decorator — Agatharchss  the  founder  of  per- 
spective and  landscape-painting — Rapidity  of  his  execution — Apollodoros  oi  Athens — Wall-painting 
and  easel-painting — Apollodoros  the  first  complete  painter — Subjects  of  his  works — Their  character — 
The  Older  Attic  School  succeeded  after  the  Peloponnesian  Wars  by  other  schools — The  Ionian  School — 
Zeuxis  of  Herakleia  ;  his  character  and  career  ;  subjects  and  style  of  his  works — Parrhasios  of  Ephesos  ; 
his  rivalry  with  Zeuxis  ;  style  and  character  of  his  works — Testimonies  of  antiquity — Timanthes  ;  his 
picture  of  Iphigeneia — Tiie  Dorian  School  of  Sikyon — Eupompos — Pamphilos — Melanthios — Pausias 
— The  Theban- Attic  School — -Nikomachos — Aristeides — Euphranor — Nikias  —  Other  painters  of  the 
Hellenistic  Age  ;  Apelles  ;  his  career  as  portrait-painter  in  the  service  of  Alexander  ;  his  subsequent 
career;  his  picture  of  Calumny;  his  Aphrodite  Anadyomene  —  Other  allegorical  and  mythological 
works  and  portraits  by  Apelles  —  Characteristics  and  anecdotes  concerning  Apelles — Their  general 
result — Protogenes  ;  his  works  at  Rhodes  and  Athens  ;  his  character  and  fame — Antiphilos — Theon  of 
Samos — Action — Helena — The  rhopographi ;  Peiraiikos — Exhaustion  of  creative  power  and  individual 
genius — Exceptions  ;  Timomachos  ;  his  date  and  character — Rise  of  landscape-painting — Demetrios 
and  Serapion  —  Greek  painters  at  Rome  ;  Ekphantos,  Damophilos,  Gorgasos,  Dionysios,  Laia, 
Dorotheos — Painters  of  Roman  birth  ;  Fabius  Pictor,  Turpilius,  Titidius  Labeo,  Q.  Pedius,  Amulius — 
The  decorator  Ludius,  Studius,  or  Tadius — Criticisms  and  descriptions  of  pictures  by  the  rhetoricians 
of  the  Empire. 

The  origins  of  Greek  painting  are  wrapped  in  obscurity.  It  is  probable, 
however,  that  the  earliest  kind  of  pictures  on  the  flat  were  the  representations 
either  woven  into  or  embroidered  upon  figured  stuffs  of  various  colours,  and 
that  in  these  decorative  industries  the  Greeks  in  the  first  instance  imitated  the 
Asiatic  races,  who  had  practised  them  from  time  immemorial.^  Homer  speaks 
several  times  in  the  Iliad  of  tissues  thus  artistically  woven,  as  the  robes  of 
Helen  and  Andromache,  and  the  veil  of  Hera,  in  which  are  many  a  "  wondrous 
image "  of  Athene's  weaving.  And  in  the  Odyssey  we  hear  of  the  rich  em- 
broiderv  on  the  front  of  the  garment  of  Ulvsses  : — 

About  the  skirts  a  hound  a  freckled  hind 

In  full  course  hunted  ;  on  the  foreskirts,  yet, 

He  pinch'd  and  pull'd  her  down,  when  with  her  feet 

And  all  her  force  she  struggled  hard  for  flight, 

Which  had  such  life  in  gold,  that  to  the  sight 

It  seem'd  the  hind  itself  for  every  hue, 

The  hound  and  all  so  answering  the  view, 

That  all  admired  all. 

{Od.  xix.,  228  sqq.     ChaPMAN's  transl.) 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  39 

We  have  to  suppose  that  the  subjects  thus  figured  consisted  of  rows  of  animals 
conventionally  treated,  flower  and  leaf  ornaments,  and  also  scenes  of  hunting  and 
battle  ;  and  that  their  st\lc  was  essentially  that  of  the  West  Asiatic  schools. 
It  is  true  that  proof  of  the  existence  of  such  originals  is  lost  in  prehistoric 
darkness  ;  but  our  inferences  concerning  them  are  confirmed  by  the  systems  of 
ornament  which  we  find  on  actual  remains  of  earthenware  ;  and,  coming  within 
the  range  of  history,  it  happens  that  two  of  the  earliest  recorded  names  of 
Greek  artists  are  the  names  of  famous  weavers,  Akesas  and  Helikon.  The 
attempt,  however,  to  follow  out  this  and  kindred  industries  in  detail  would 
lead  us  too  far  for  our  present  purpose,  which  compels  us  to  limit  our  attention 
to  the  arts  of  brush  and  stylus,  to  drawing  and  painting  proper. 

Several  ancient  \\riters  have  left  us  their  views  concerning  the  origin  and 
development  of  these  arts.  They  have  it  that  the  first  drawing  was  silhouette- 
drawing,  and  relate  either  how  a  Greek  youth  traced  the  outline  of  the  shadow 
cast  by  his  horse  in  the  sun,  or  else  how  a  maiden  taking  leave  of  her  lover 
outlined  his  likeness  from  the  shadow  which  he  cast  upon  a  wall.  Next, 
the\'  say,  some  one  had  the  idea  of  filling  up  an  outline  so  drawn  with  colour, 
but  onl}-  with  one  colour  (monochrome)  ;  a  third  defined  the  several  parts  of 
the  bod\-  within  the  general  outline  ;  a  fourth  learnt  how  to  distinguish  men 
from  women,  antl  in  general  one  of  several  figures  from  another  within  a  group 
thus  drawn  in  outline  ;  and  the  author  of  this  last  improvement  is  handed 
down  under  the  name  of  Eumaros.  The  next  great  step  in  advance  is 
attributed  to  Kimon  of  Kleonai,  who  is  said  to  have  achieved  the  correct 
drawing  of  profiles,  and  to  have  distinguished  figures  in  profile  from  those  in 
full  face,  making  them  look  back,  or  up  or  down,  according  to  nature,  and  in 
general  adding  to  them  a  new  freedom  of  life  and  variety  of  movement.  Ac- 
cording to  Brunn,  this  change  in  profile-drawing  refers  to  the  mode  of  treating 
the  eyes,  which  in  Assyrian,  Egyptian,  and  the  oldest  Greek  art,  had  been 
represented  in  the  side  view  as  they  are  really  seen  only  in  front.  Kimon  is 
also  thought  to  have  been  the  first  to  represent  the  folds  of  the  drapery  and 
the  veins  of  the  human  body.  The  first  originators  before  Eumaros  and  Kimon 
are  variously  named  ;  but  such  names,  being  quite  unhistorical,  may  be  left  out 
of  account.^ 

Tradition  places  at  a  comparatively  late  period  of  Greek  history  the 
development  thus  shadowed  forth.  Such  a  course  of  development  is  quite 
natural,  and  ma\'  therefore  be  accepted — particular  anecdotes  apart — as  prob- 
able ;  the  more  so  as  we  seem  to  find  corroborative  evidence  in  Oriental  art, 
in  I^truscan  wall-painting,  and  in  the  earliest  vase-painting.  Kimon  of  Kleonai 
is  thought  U)  have  been  practising  his  art  as  late  as  the  time  of  the  Persian 
wars.  According  to  this  view,  Greek  painting  would  have  been  technically  not 
a  whit  further  developed  than  Ass}'rian  or  l^g\  plian  until  towards  the  middle 
of  the   sixth   century  before   our  era  ;   so   that  the   assertion   of  the    I\gyptians 


40  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

that  they  had  discovered  painting  six  thousand  years  before  the  art  reached 
the  Greeks — an  assertion  which  PHny  thought  to  dismiss  with  contempt — 
seems  to  ourselves  after  all  b}-  no  means  impossible.  We  do  actually  know 
of  Egyptian  painting  thousands  of  years  older  than  any  Greek.  Pliny  would 
have  done  better  if,  instead  of  throwing  doubts  upon  the  antiquity  of  painting 
in  Eg\'pt,  he  had  insisted  on  the  credit  due  to  the  Greeks  for  bringing  the  art, 
within  a  single  century  from  their  first  primitive  attempts,  to  a  degree  of 
perfection  which  the  Egyptians  never  reached  through  tens  of  centuries. 

If  we  cannot  say  that  Greek  painting  made  in  the  hands  of  Kimon  of 
Kleonai  the  decisive  advance  which  separated  it  for  good  from  the  whole  art  of 
the  East,  it  did  certainly  make  such  advance  in  the  hands  of  the  famous  Polyg- 
notos.  Polygnotos  was  an  elder  contemporary  of  Pheidias,  and  had  for  his 
patron  the  statesman  Kimon,  the  predecessor  of  Perikles.  He  conducted  the 
pictorial  decorations  of  the  public  buildings  of  Athens  and  the  neighbouring  cities 
after  the  Persian  wars.  His  is  the  first  immortal  name  in  the  history  of  painting, 
and  with  it  some  of  the  ancient  writers  themselves  make  the  history  of  painting 
begin.  Polygnotos  was  born  in  the  island  of  Thasos,  and  was  the  son  and 
pupil  of  a  painter  of  the  island,  Aglaophon.  We  cannot  actually  determine 
the  }-ear  in  which  he  came  to  Athens,  an}-  more  than  the  }'ear  of  his  birth  or 
death.  We  must  be  content  to  know  that  he  flourished  between  the  75  th  and 
80th  Olympiads  (B.C.  475-455).  Having  undertaken  and  carried  out  without 
payment  certain  great  series  of  public  paintings  at  Athens,  he  was  rewarded 
with  the  right  of  citizenship  in  that  state.  And  his  general  fame  in  his  own 
day  was  so  great  that  the  Amphiktyons  gave  him  the  right  of  free  entertainment 
in  the  Hellenic  cities,  and  that  poets  like  Simonides  celebrated  him  in  their 
songs.  He  was  the  head  of  a  school,  or  at  least  a  group  of  painters  aiming 
in  the  same  direction,  who  gathered  round  him  in  Athens.  In  conjunction 
Avith  these  the  Thasian  artist  carried  out  the  great  mural  paintings  with  which 
the  public  buildings  of  Athens  were  decorated  during  the  supremacy  of  Kimon. 
Polygnotos  was  the  leader  and  inspirer  of  the  work,  and  among  his  associates 
at  Athens  the  two  most  important  were  Mikon  and  Panainos,  the  latter  a  near 
relative  of  the  great  sculptor  Pheidias. 

The  works  with  which  this  group  of  painters  adorned  the  city  by  the  Ilissos, 
when  she  rose  in  renewed  splendour  from  her  ruins,  were  the  following  : — First, 
a  series  of  four  great  battle  scenes  in  the  Stoa  Poikilc,  or  Painted  Gallery,  in  the 
market-place  ;  of  these  the  Taking  of  Troy,  by  Polygnotos,  and  the  Battle  of 
Theseus  and  the  Amazons,  by  Mikon,  belonged  to  the  cycle  of  heroic  legends  ; 
the  battles  of  Oinoe  and  Marathon  to  the  real  and  freshly-remembered  past  of 
Greek  histor>'.  Second,  various  passages  from  the  life  of  Theseus,  principally 
by  Mikon,  in  the  Theseion,  or  temple  of  that  hero.  Third,  the  Wedding  of  Kastor 
and  Polydeukes  with  the  daughters  of  Leukippos,  by  Polygnotos,  and  the  Return 
of  the  Argonauts,  by  Mikon,  in  the  temple  of  the  Dioskouroi.      Fourth,  a  more 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND   ITALY.  41 

extensive  series  in  the  PinakotJiekd,  or  picture  gallery  proper,  a  building  united 
with  the  Propylaia  or  portico  of  the  Akropolis  ;  of  this  series,  as  Brunn  has 
shown,  it  is  probable  that  six  subjects  taken  from  the  Trojan  cycle,  and  forming 
three  corresponding  pairs,  were  by  the  hand  of  Polygnotos  himself 

But  it  was  not  onl\-  in  Athens  that  Polygnotos  painted  with  his  companions. 
Works  of  his  were  also  to  be  seen  in  Plataiai  and  Thespiai  in  Boeotia.  A 
certain  Onasias  was  his  assistant  in  the  former  of  these  towns  ;  but  the  works 
at  Thespiai  were  attributed  to  the  master  alone.  The  most  important  works 
carried  out  by  Polygnotos  alone,  indeed  those  which  even  in  antiquity  seem  to 
have  been  looked  upon  as  the  standard  masterpieces  of  the  great  painter  and  of 
his  whole  school,  were  the  wall-paintings  in  the  LescJic  or  assembly  room  of  the 
Knidians  at  Delphi.  Pausanias  has  left  us  the  fullest  descriptions  of  them, 
and  not  a  few  artists  and  scholars  have  occupied  themselves  in  our  own  century 
with  their  reconstruction.^ 

On  the  right-hand  wall  going  in  were  figured  the  destruction  of  Troy  and 
the  departure  of  the  Greeks.  Imagine  the  fight  still  raging  between  single  com- 
batants ;  Epeios  still  in  the  act  of  tearing  down  the  wall  of  the  conquered  city  ; 
Kassandra  still  seated  on  the  ground  and  clinging  to  the  Palladion,  while  the 
wailing  Trojan  women  are  making  ready  to  depart  with  their  captors  ;  the  tent 
of  Menelaos  beside  the  Trojan  shore  is  ready  struck,  and  the  ship  of  the 
victorious  hero  is  being  laden  for  departure.  In  this  long-extended  scene,  the 
house  of  Antenor,  represented  on  the  left  of  the  spectator,  stood  for  the  city  of 
Tro)',  while  the  sea  must  have  reached  from  the  right  of  the  picture  nearly  to 
the  centre  of  its  foreground.  On  the  opposite  or  left-hand  wall  was  represented 
the  under  world  as  described  by  the  epic  poets  ;  Ulysses  upon  his  mission  to 
Hades  to  question  the  spirit  of  Teiresias  concerning  his  return  ;  and  a  multitude 
of  all  manner  of  shapes  besides,  the  shapes  that  people  the  kingdom  of  the 
dead,  disposed  in  symmetrical  groups  of  the  happiest  invention  and  arrangement. 
Orpheus  with  his  lute  seems  to  have  been  seated,  under  a  willow  in  the  midst. 
On  the  extreme  left,  Charon,  the  ancient  ferryman,  steered  his  skiff  over  the 
waters  of  Acheron  ;  while  on  the  right  Sisyphos  strained  every  nerve  to  roll 
his  rock  up  the  steep  declivity,  and  Tantalos  endured  all  the  pains  that  Homer 
fabled  of  him. 

Let  us  consider  as  closely  as  we  can  the  technical  style  of  these  paintings, 
and  inferential!)'  of  all  other  wall-paintings  b\'  Polygnotos  and  his  contem- 
poraries. However  few  indications  the  old  writers  may  have  left  us  as  to  the 
style  of  this  ancient  school,  they  must  suffice  to  give  us  to  some  extent  a  clear 
conception  of  it. 

First  of  all,  we  must  bear  well  in  mind  that,  however  decided  an  advance 
in  the  treatment  of  details  these  paintings  showed  over  the  whole  mass  of 
Oriental  art,  they  were  )'et  just  as  far  from  being  really  complete  pictorial 
representations  as  the  wall-pictures  of  tlic  Assyrians  and  Egyptians  themselves 

G 


42  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

The  paintings  of  the  school  of  Polygnotos  consisted  of  still  isolated  groups,  not 
bound  together  by  any  natural  background,  but  thrown  up  in  profile  against  a 
conventional  ground  of  a  single  colour,  probably  in  most  cases  white.  In  the 
matter  of  background  features,  whether  of  landscape  or  otherwise,  the  masters  of 
this  school  did  no  more  than  pick  out  and  represent  single  objects,  such  as  a  house, 
a  tree,  a  piece  of  water,  or  the  like,  in  a  manner  intended  not  to  recall  the  locality 
to  the  eye,  but  merely  symbolically  to  suggest  it.  Again,  they  insured  the  recog- 
nition of  single  figures  by  writing  their  names  close  to  them  in  the  picture,  a 
custom  which  the  ancient  painters  never  quite  abandoned.  Moreover  they  had 
no  knowledge  of  chiaroscuro,  no  skill  in  managing  fine  transitions  from  one 
colour  to  another,  but  had  to  make  the  most  of  a  scanty  range  of  local  colours 
yielding  only  an  approximate  imitation  of  nature.  Within  these  limits,  how- 
ever, it  is  clear  that  they  used  the  brush  with  fancy  and  ingenuity  ;  thus  we 
hear  that  Polygnotos  painted  the  body-eater  Eurynomos  blue-black,  the  fishes 
of  Acheron  shadowy  grey,  and  the  pebbles  of  the  river-bed  so  that  they  could 
be  seen  through  the  water.  If  we  study  the  earlier  class  of  Etruscan  wall- 
paintings  upon  a  white  ground,  and  the  Greek  painted  vases  of  the  early  or 
"strong"  style,  we  can  form  a  tolerably  just  idea,  in  regard  to  many  of  these 
formal  points  of  style,  of  the  character  of  this  school  of  painting.  Their  works, 
we  may  infer,  combined  the  principles  of  strict  rhythm  and  of  symmetry  with 
freedom  both  in  the  design  of  individual  groups  and  in  their  general  dis- 
tribution, whether  in  tiers  or  otherwise,  over  the  surface  of  the  wall.  Thus  they 
far  surpassed  in  excellence  of  composition  the  ancient  arts  of  the  East  ;  they 
surpassed  those  arts  still  further  in  the  feeling  of  beauty  with  which  individual 
human  forms  were  represented  in  full  control  over  their  own  movements,  as  well 
as  in  the  beauty  and  pliancy  of  fold  with  which  broken  draperies  were  made  to 
accommodate  themselves  to  and  reveal  those  forms  ;  they  surpassed  them  most 
of  all  in  the  nobility  and  expressiveness  of  the  human  features,  which  in  the 
hands  of  this  school  of  Greek  painters  become  for  the  first  time  the  mirror  of 
the  soul. 

Hence  an  ancient  poet  could  say  of  a  Polyxene  by  the  great  master  of  this 
school,  Polygnotos,  that  she  carried  in  her  eyelids  the  whole  history  of  the 
Trojan  war  ;  and  hence  the  after-tribute  paid  to  the  same  master  by  Aristotle 
when  he  says  that  his  works  are  pre-eminent  for  etJios,  that  is  to  say  for  a  clearly 
determined  spiritual  character  in  the  individual  heroes.  For  a  painter  of 
heroes,  and  nothing  but  heroes,  was  Polygnotos,  w^hereas  some  of  his  com- 
panions painted  historical  pieces  proper,  and  began  already  to  aim  at  something 
approaching  portraiture  of  the  personages  they  represented.  But  such  por- 
traiture we  cannot  suppose  to  have  gone  as  yet  beyond  a  somewhat  generalised 
and  ideal  resemblance.  Love  of  the  ideal,  desire  to  lift  the  spectator  above 
prosaic  reality  by  beauty  of  form,  by  majesty  of  gesture,  by  power  of  spiritual 
expression, — such  were  doubtless  the  essential  principles  of  the  style  of  these 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  43 

contemporaries  of  the  divine  Pheidias.  It  has  been  said  with  justice  that  the 
history  of  ancient  painting  differs  from  the  history  of  ancient  sculpture  in  this, 
that  while  in  sculpture  the  utmost  spiritual  beauty  and  sublimity  went  hand 
in  hand  with  the  utmost  technical  perfection  of  which  the  art  was  capable,  in 
painting  the  highest  spiritual  and  the  highest  technical  points  were  reached,  not 
together,  but  at  different  points  of  time.  The  age  of  Polygnotos  was  an  age 
which  aimed  at  beauty  and  greatness,  at  the  noble  and  sublime,  in  all  the  pro- 
vinces of  artistic  creation.  The  impress  of  these  ideal  aspirations  of  the  spirit 
it  stamped  upon  its  painting  no  less  than  upon  its  sculpture  ;  but  painting  in 
this  age  was  still  a  mere  system  of  tinted  outline  design,  and  only  entered  into 
possession  of  its  full  technical  means  in  a  later  generation,  when  the  arts  in 
Greece  were  no  longer  bent  upon  their  ideal  mission  in  the  same  high  earnest 
as  of  old. 

Under  these  circumstances  it  is  natural  that  very  different  judgments  should 
have  been  formed  of  Polygnotos  and  his  associates  in  the  later  ages  of  antiquity 
itself,  according  as  the  critic  regarded  their  work  from  the  point  of  view  of  its 
technical  completeness  or  of  its  spiritual  character  and  invention  ;  since,  with  all 
its  great  qualities,  it  is  clear  that  such  work  must  have  failed  in  many  of  those 
preliminary  conditions  without  which  it  could  not  have  risen  to  the  many-sided 
freedom  of  true  pictorial  beauty. 

•Pol}-gnotos  had  a  younger  contemporary,  in  whom  we  must  seek  the  leader 
of  a  real  revolution  b\--and-by  effected  in  Greek  painting, — a  revolution  by 
which  the  art  was  enabled  to  achieve  great  and  decisive  progress  towards  a 
system  of  representation  corresponding  with  the  laws  of  optics  and  the  full  truth 
of  nature.  'This  was  Agatharchos  of  Samos,  who,  like  Polygnotos,  was  a  native 
of  a  distant  island  and  found  his  career  at  Athens.  Agatharchos  was  first  of  all 
a  scene-painter  for  the  theatre.  For  the  theatre,  illusion  has  at  all  times  been 
in  some  degree  a  necessity.  The  Greek  stage,  with  all  its  complicated  appa- 
ratus of  masks,  buskins,  and  the  rest,  was  still  less  able  than  the  modern  to 
dispense  with  decorations.  We  know  that  the  plays  of  yEsch}-lus  required  no 
inconsiderable  amount  of  scenic  preparation,  and  that  such  preparation  was 
presumably  carried  to  its  farthest  point  under  Sophokles.  It  seems  that  the 
rear  wall  of  the  stage  was  covered  over  its  whole  surface  ^\•ith  a  great  set  piece, 
upon  which  the  scene  of  the  action  was  painted,  just  as  we  are  used  to  .see  it 
to-day.  The  side  scenes  to  right  and  left  were  severally  constructed  in  the  form 
of  a  revolving  prism  of  three  faces,  and  these  completed  the  decoration  of  the 
Stage,  w  hich  was  of  no  great  depth.  The  usual  background  of  a  Greek  tragedy 
consisted  of  an  architectural  scene  such  as  a  temple,  a  king's  palace,  or  the  like  ; 
but  at  the  extremities  of  this,  it  is  clear  that  landscape-distances  must  often 
have  found  ])lace  as  well.  .And  sonicliines  the  whole  scene  consisted  of  a 
picture 'of  a  camp,  or  of  a  landscape  pure  and  simple.  In  scene-painting  as 
thus  jjracliscd,  we  accordingly  find  the  origins,  not  on!)-  of  all   rc^presentation  of 


44  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

determinate  backgrounds,  but  also,  and  more  especially,  of  landscape-painting. 
It  is  impossible  to  over-estimate  the  importance  of  the  invention  of  scene- 
painting  as  the  most  decisive  turning-point  in  the  entire  history  of  the  art,  and 
Agatharchos  is  named  as  the  master  who,  at  the  inspiration  of  ^schylus,  first 
devoted  himself  to  practising  this  invention.  It  is  possible,  however,  that  he 
only  worked  for  the  later  plays  of  that  great  perfecter  of  Greek  tragedy,  and 
probable  that  he  continued  to  work  in  like  manner  under  his  successor 
Sophokles, 

That  the  labours  of  Agatharchos  were  not  confined  exclusively  to  stage- 
painting,  we  know  from  the  story  which  tells  how  he  decorated,  or  at  least  was 
to  have  decorated,  the  dwelling-house  of  Alkibiades.  He  was  obliged,  runs 
the  tale,  to  decline  the  commission  of  Alkibiades  on  the  score  of  over-work, 
whereupon  that  arrogant  young  commander  caused  him  to  be  locked  up  within 
his  house,  in  order  to  force  him  to  the  task.  According  to  one  version, 
this  high-handed  measure  succeeded,  and  the  painter,  having  completed  his 
work,  was  handsomely  rewarded  and  dismissed  ;  according  to  another,  he  gave 
his  captor  the  slip.  *  At  any  rate,  we  may  surmise  that  the  paintings  of  Agath- 
archos for  the  interior  of  houses  were  of  the  purely  decorative  kind,  akin, 
both  in  subject  and  mode  of  treatment,  to  scene-painting  ;  that  he  painted,  or 
was  capable  of  painting,  figures  we  nowhere  learn.    _ 

Partly  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  and  partly  from  the  accounts  of  ancient 
writers,  we  are  enabled   to  form   a  tolerably  exact   notion  of  the  character  and 
place  of  Agatharchos   in  the  history  of  painting.  *  In   the  first   place,  it  is  clear 
that  scenes  painted  in  imitation  of  nature  for  the  decoration  of  a  theatre   could 
not  have  answered  their  purpose  of  illusion  unless  they  had   been  laid   out,  to 
some  extent,  according  to  the   rules  of  perspective.      And   in   fact  the   ancient 
writers  mention  that  Agatharchos  left  a  treatise  upon  the  right  manner  of  scene- 
painting,   and    that   it   was   from    him   that  the    philosophers    Demokritos   and 
Anaxagoras  took  the  hint  which  first  set  them  inquiring  seriously  into  the  laws 
of  perspective.      No  doubt  the  parts  of  stage  perspective  at  this  time  made  out 
were   most   likely  only  the  elementary  rules   for  objects   seen   in   full  front,  and 
the   contemporary  practice  of  Agatharchos  would  have  failed  to  satisfy,  at  any 
rate  in  complicated  cases,  the  requirements  of  our  modern  knowledge.      At  the 
same  time,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  principles  of  foreshortening  and  the  use 
of  lines   converging   towards  a  vanishing  point  had   been  discovered,  and   this 
progress   was    quite  enough    to    mark   a   new   period  and    a   new  departure   in 
comparison  with  the  previous  practice  alike  of  Greece  and  of  the  East,  and  to 
produce   an   effect  of  illusion   undreamt   of  till   now  among   men  who,  like  the 
contemporaries   of  Agatharchos,  had   grown   up   in   absolute  ignorance  of  per- 
spective.   » 

It   is   clear,  in   the   next   place,  that  a  manner  of  treatment   compat'atively 
broad   and  picturesque,  and   radically  different   from  the   precision  and   rigidity 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY. 


45 


of  the  earlier  outline  manner,  will  have  been  demanded  both  by  the  extent 
of  the  surfaces  to  be  covered  in  scene-painting,  and  by  the  nature  of  the 
objects  represented.  Such  a  manner  will  naturally  have  tended  to  degenerate 
towards  slightness  and  sketchiness  ;  and  accordingly  we  find  an  ancient 
anecdote  which  represents  Agatharchos  as  set  down  by  a  reply  of  the  celebrated 
younger  master,  Zeuxis,  to  whom  he  had  boasted  of  his  rapid  rate  of  work.  In 
general,  we  may  with  certainty  assume  that  the  art  of  Agatharchos  offered  in 
all  points,  alike  as  to  subject,  origin,  and  mode  of  treatment,  a  diametrical 
contrast  with  the  art  of  Polygnotos.  Judged  b}-  the  standard  of  artistic 
excellence,  the  palm  would  doubtless  fall  to  Polygnotos,  but  we  must  not  for- 
get that  in  the  innovations  of  Agatharchos  lay  the  seeds  of  a  great  and  fruitful 
revolution  for  the  whole  art. 

What  was  now  wanted  was  the  advent  of  a  figure-painter  who,  taking  his 
inspiration  from  the  stage  with  its  movement  of  figures  in  front  of  a  determinate 
background  of  natural  scenery,  should  place  at  the  disposal  of  painting,  in 
all  its  uses,  that  mode  of  representation  with  which  the  public  was  already 
familiar  in  stage  use  alone.  Such  a  figure-painter  in  fact  arose  among  the 
Greeks  towards  the  end  of  the  fifth  century  B.C.,  at  the  beginning  of  the  Pelo- 
ponnesian  wars,  in  the  person  of  Apollodoros  the  Athenian.  Those  ancient 
writers,  who,  like  PIin\-,  treat  the  histor\-  of  painting  from  a  technical  point  of 
view,  speak  of  Apollodoros  as  the  first  painter  worthy  of  real  fame.'* 

WY^  must  above  all  bear  in  mind  that  the  art  we  have  so  far  spoken  of 
(scene-painting  apart)  was  of  a  monumental  character.  Into  the  vexed  question 
which  was  long  ago  vehemently  discussed  between  the  PVench  archaeologists 
Letronne  and  Raoul-Rochettc,'^  as  to  whether  Polygnotos  and  his  associates 
painted  directly  on  the  wall,  or  on  wood  panels  let  into  walls,  we  will  not  enter, 
since  it  is  a  question  which  can  hardl\-  be  decided  from  the  cxidcnce  at  our 
command.  As  in  any  case  these  paintings  were  from  the  first  intended  for  mural 
decoration,  and  bore  distinctly  the  character  of  mural  painting,  we  can,  and  are 
clearK'  entitled  to,  regard  these  masters  exclusively  as  wall-painters,  in  contra- 
distinction to  the  painters  of  portrait  or  easel  pictures.  Not  that  easel-painters 
did  not  exist  b\'  this  time  ;  Aristophon,  a  brother  of  Polygnotos,  was  such  a 
painter  ;  but  there  were,  and  could  be,  none  of  an\'  great  fame,  inasmuch  as 
that  absence  of  the  indispensable  technical  conditions  of  perfect  painting,  which 
made  itself  the  k;ss  felt  in  great  wall-jjictures  because  of  their  severe  archi- 
tectural composition,  because  of  the  symmetry  of  their  groupings,  and  even 
because  of  the  decorative  charm  of  their  still  conventional  s\'stem  of  colouring, 
would,  in  pancl-painlings,  bi-  (lc])rived  of  these  compensations,  and  show  itself 
in  ail  its  nakedness.  I'ancl-p.u'iitiiig  in  fact  demanded  the  exercise  of  tho.se 
conquests  which  had  been  won,  fijr  the  jjurijoses  of  stage-decoration,  in  the 
first  instance  by  Agatharchos. 

It  was  Apollodoros,  as  we  have  said,  who  first  adapted  these  conquests  to 


46  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

smaller  works,  in  which  he  combined  landscape  and  figures  ;  no  wonder,  then, 
if  Pliny  heaps  praises  on  him  in  such  terms  as  these — that  he  was  the  first  to 
give  the  appearance  of  realit\'  to  his  pictures,  the  first  to  bring  the  brush  into 
just  repute,  and  even  that  before  him  no  easel-picture  {tabu la)  had  existed  by 
an}-  master  fit  to  charm  the  eyes  of  the  spectator.  Apollodoros  was  the  first  to 
give  his  pictures  a  natural  and  definite  background  in  true  perspective  ;  he 
was  the  first,  it  is  emphatically  stated,  who  rightl\^  managed  chiaroscuro  and 
the  fusion  of  colours.  Hence  he  earned  the  title  of  skiagrapJios,  or  shadow- 
painter.  He  will  have  also  been  the  first  to  soften  off  the  outlines  of  his  figures, 
and  thus  no  longer  to  draw  and  tint  mere!}-,  but,  in  the  true  .sense  of  the  word, 
to  paint  with  his  brush.  For  this  reason  we  may,  with  l^runn,  in  a  certain  sense 
call  iVpollodoros  the  first  true  painter. 

Of  the  subjects  of  his  pictures  we  know  little.  He  seems  to  have  taken 
them, — with  the  exception,  however,  of  a  priest  in  prayer, — from  heroic  legend. 
The  mo.st  interesting  of  his  pictures  seems  to  have  been  one  of  Ajax  in  his  ship 
struck  by  lightning,  a  subject  which  of  itself  would  point  to  a  pictorial  treat- 
ment of  the  background,  as  well  as  of  the  light  and  shadow. 

But  we  must  be  on  our  guard  against  supposing  that  the  improvements 
effected  by  Apollodoros  and  his  school,  in  the  relations  of  foreground  and  back- 
ground, were  equivalent  to  those  effected  b}-  the  brothers  Van  Eyck  in  the 
development  of  modern  painting.  We  must  rather  infer,  from  the  evidence 
both  of  ancient  w  ritcrs  and  of  the  few  remaining  fragments  of  wall-painting 
which  it  is  possible  to  suppose  copied  from  originals  of  a  time  earlier  than 
Alexander,  that  in  the  great  days  of  Greek  painting,  the  backgrounds  of  pictures, 
however  natural  and  distinct,  served  simply  as  an  unattractive  foil  to  the  figures, 
to  which  the\'  were  kept  in  the  .strictest  subordination.  Nay  more,  we  can  be 
sure  that  the  old  principle  of  the  monochrome  background  was  by  no  means 
abandoned  all  at  once  in  favour  of  the  new  principle  of  the  natural  background. 
White  generally  takes  the  place  of  sky,  or  even  encroaches  more  than  a  true 
sky  upon  the  features  of  the  landscape.  And  in  general,  we  must  of  course 
remember  that,  in  the  progress  of  Greek  painting,  many  phases  which  to  our- 
selves would  seem  primitive  and  elementary  must  have  been  novelties  of  a 
kind  to  make  no  small  stir  in  their  own  da}-.  Such  a  stir  was  deservedly 
made  b}-  the  work  of  Apollodoros  among  his  contemporaries.  At  the  same 
time  his  manner  of  painting  must  have  been  in  some  respects  hard  and  im- 
perfect b}'  comparison  e\cn  with  that  of  his  immediate  successors  ;  and  hence  he 
will  have  seemed,  to  use  the  very  words  of  Plin}-,  no  more  than  the  gatekeeper 
who  threw  open  the  gates  of  painting  to  the  renowned  inheritors  of  the  art. 

During  the  period  of  which  we  have  thus  far  spoken,  between  the  Persian  and 
the  Peloponnesian  wars,  Athens  had  taken  the  lead  in  the  arts  no  less  than 
in  the  politics  of  Greece.  It  is  true  that  the  great  painters  whose  acquaintance 
we  make  in  this   period,  and    some  of  whom,  like  Apollodoros,  lived  to  be  wit- 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  47 

nesses  of  the  Peloponnesian  war,  were  by  no  means  all  Athenians  by  birth. 
But  Athens  was  the  chief  seat  of  their  industr}-.  We  can  therefore,  with  some 
accuracy,  class  them  together  under  the  name  of  the  Older  Attic  School,  though 
within  this  school  Polygnotos  represents  one  main  tendenc}-  and  Agatharchos 
another.  The  Peloponnesian  war  caused  Athens  to  forfeit  her  supremacy. 
With  her  decline  the  art  of  painting  branches  off  into  several  schools,  having 
their  seats  at  various  centres  of  Hellenic  culture.  The  chief  of  these  schools, 
which  we  find  establishing  themselves  while  the  Peloponnesian  war  was  still  in 
progress,  and  maintaining  their  separate  existence  until  new  conditions  came 
into  operation  in  the  time  of  Alexander,  are,  in  order  of  seniority — i,the 
Ionian  ;  2,  the  Sikyonian  ;  3,  the  Theban- Attic.  Nevertheless,  in  this  interval 
of  nearly  a  century,  there  appears  more  than  one  individual  painter  of  eminence 
who  cannot  very  well  be  positively  included  in  either  of  thesb  schools.  For 
instance,  of  the  Ionian  school,  Zeuxis  and  Parrhasios  are  named  as  the  chief 
masters,  while  Timanthes  leads  us  from  it  to  the  Sik\-onian.  Yet  Zeuxis,  as 
we  shall  see,  belonged  only  in  an  incomplete  sense  to  the  lonians. 

Zeuxis,  Parrhasios,  and  Timanthes  are  the  three  Greek  painters  who  per- 
fected a  sj-stem  of  pictorial  representation  adequatel)-  rendering  on  the  flat 
surface  the  relief  and  variety  of  nature,  in  other  particulars  if  not  in  colour. 
And  this  is  only  an  apparent  contradiction  ;  since  a  pictorial  treatment,  in  con- 
tradistinction to  the  old  outline  style,  is  quite  possible  in  monochrome.  So 
it  is  said  of  Zeuxis  that  he  occasional!)-  painted  in  monochrome,  and  later 
writers  emphatically  count  all  three  masters  among  those  who  used  a  simple 
and  elementary  scale  of  colour.  But  b}'  others  the\-  are  just  as  emphatically 
described  as  the  perfecters  of  those  technical  conditions  to  \\hich  Apollodoros 
first  led  the  way. 

Zeuxis  was  born  at  Herakleia,  probably  the  town  of  that  name  in  Lower 
Italy,  but  he  must  have  early  entered  upon  the  career  of  a  wandering  artist,  as 
we  find  him  appearing  in  various  places.  At  Athens  he  formed  his  st\-le  imder 
Apollodoros  ;  his  earlier  teachers  are  unknown  to  fame.  He  seems  to  have 
made  his  final  home  at  Ephesos,  and  to  ha\e  passctl  the  greater  part  of  his  life 
there.  He  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  painter  whc)  excited  public  attention 
by  his  extravagance  in  spending  the  ample  means  which  he  acc^uired.  At  the 
Olympic  festival  he  appeared  in  a  garment  bearing  his  name  woxen  in  letters 
of  gold  into  the  pattern.  Towards  the  end  of  his  life  he  gave  away  his  works, 
as  he  was  of  opinion  that  the)'  were  simpl)-  be)-ond  jjrice  ;  whereas,  at  an  earlier 
time  of  his  career,  he  had  adopted  the  thoroughly  modern  ])ractice  of  taking 
cntrance-monc)'  from  those  who  came  to  see  an)-  of  his  famous  pieces.  His 
])ride  is  described  as  ([uite  on  a  lexel  with  his  love  of  displa)-.  He  inscribed 
one  of  his  works  with  the  verse  : — 

lUDjiijinrai.  Tis  //.</. AAor  i)  /it/xvyrrcTat. 
"  Easier  to  crir|)  at  than  to  r<>|)y."  " 


48  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

In  another  epigram  Zeuxis  simply  pronounced  himself  unsurpassable. 
He  is  said  to  have  died,  literally,  of  laughing  at  one  of  his  own  pictures  repre- 
senting an  old  woman. 

We  know  the  subjects  of  a  dozen  or  more  of  his  works.  Among  these  may 
be  mentioned  as  the  most  famous,  the  Zeus  enthroned  among  the  other  gods, 
a  picture  praised  by  Pliny  ;  the  Centaur  family  disporting  themselves  on  the  soft 
turf,  minutely  described  by  Lucian  ;  the  Helen,  painted  for  a  temple  of  Hera  at 
Kroton,  where  the  citizens  allowed  him  to  make  choice  from  among  the  fairest 
maidens  of  the  town,  in  order  that  from  their  various  beauties  (he  is  said  to  have 
chosen  five)  he  might  compose  his  ideal  Helen  ;  his  Penelope,  who  appeared 
as  the  personification  of  all  household  virtues  ;  and  lastly,  the  famous  bunch  of 
grapes  which  he  executed,  as  we  shall  see,  in  rivalry  with  Parrhasios.  Besides 
these  Zeuxis  painted,  among  divinities,  Eros,  Marsyas,  and  Pan  ;  among 
heroes,  Herakles,  Alkmene,  Menelaos  ;  and  of  pictures  of  every-day  life,  an 
athlete,  a  bo}-  with  grapes,  and  the  old  woman  already  mentioned. 

In  exact  opposition  to  Polygnotos,  the  great  monumental  wall-painter, 
Zeuxis,  the  panel-painter,  represented  only  single  events.  But  he  tried  above 
all  things  to  make  these  attractive  by  the  charm  of  novelty  and  grace.  With 
depth  of  expression  and  moral  earnestness  he  has  little  or  nothing  to  do  ;  his 
endeavour  is  by  the  brilliant  use  of  the  brush  to  rival  nature  herself,  although 
he  continues,  in  the  true  spirit  of  ideal  art,  to  divest  her  of  all  accidental  ugli- 
ness. He  so  far  outstripped  Apollodoros  in  the  treatment  of  light  and  shadow, 
that  some  writers  have  described  him  as  the  true  discoverer  of  chiaroscuro.  If  we 
could  but  see  his  work  to-da}-,  we  should  doubtless  be  ready  to  confirm  the 
immense  fame  which  he  enjoyed  through  all  antiquity.^ 

Parrhasios,  the  rival  of  Zeuxis,  was  born  at  Ephesos.  At  first  a  pupil  of 
his  father  Euenor,  he  too  seems  to  have  completed  his  education  as  an  artist  at 
Athens.  For  Athens,  at  any  rate,  he  worked,  and  perhaps  received  the  freedom 
of  that  city  as  a  reward  for  his  painting  of  the  national  Attic  hero,  Theseus. 
The  names  of  Parrhasios  and  Zeuxis  are  often  coupled  ;  but  we  can  gather  from 
the  ancient  writers  that  though  the  general  tendencies  of  their  work  were  the 
same,  yet  the  st}-le  of  Parrhasios  was  distinguished  from  that  of  his  rival  by 
several  well-marked  characteristics.  Many  looked  upon  his  art  as  an  advance 
upon  that  of  Zeuxis,  and  once  at  least  the  latter  had  himself  to  admit  as 
much.  This  was  when  Zeuxis  had  painted  some  grapes  so  naturalh'  that  the 
birds  were  deceived  and  flew  to  peck  at  them  ;  Parrhasios  then  painted  a  curtain 
as  if  hanging  in  front  of  a  picture,  with  such  absolute  reality  that  even  Zeuxis 
was  deceived,  and  asked  his  competitor  whether  he  would  not  begin  by  drawing 
the  curtain  from  his  work. 

Anecdotes  of  this  kind,  whether  true  or  not,  are  in  any  case  happy,  and 
serve  to  characterise  the  style  of  the  artists  about  whom  they  are  told.  From 
this  history  of  the  grapes  and  curtain  we  can  infer  with  certainty  that  Parrhasios 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  49 

as  well  as  Zeuxis  laid  the  greatest  stress  on  carrying  out  to  the  point  of  actual 
illusion  the  deceptive  likeness  to  nature.  That  he  outstripped  Zeuxis  in  this 
direction  is  testified  not  only  b\-  this  story,  but  b}-  the  criticisms  of  antiquit)^ 
which  ascribe  to  him,  besides  much  subtlety  and  grace  in  facial  expression,  and 
besides  a  great  research  and  ingenuity  in  his  theory  of  human  proportions,  a 
special  care  for  modelling  and  rounding,  even  to  deception,  the  contours  of  his 
figures  ;  "  for,"  says  Pliny  on  this  subject,  "  the  contours  so  round  themselves 
and  vanish  away,  that  they  seem  to  promise  something  behind,  and  even  suggest 
what  they  conceal." 

Besides,  it  appears  from  this  and  other  sayings  of  ancient  writers,  as  well  as 
from  his  choice  of  subjects,  that  Parrhasios,  in  contradistinction  to  the  typical 
themes  of  Zeuxis,  liked  above  all  things  to  represent  motives  of  dramatic 
interest.  To  his  principal  works  of  this  kind  belong  the  simulated  madness 
of  Ulysses  ;  the  strife  between  Ulysses  and  Ajax  for  the  armour  of  Achilles  ; 
the  anguish  of  Philoktetes  on  Lemnos  ;  scenes  from  the  tales  of  Meleagros 
and  Telephos  ;  lasth',  the  representation  of  the  Attic  State  or  Demos,  which 
Demos  he  personified,  according  to  some,  in  a  single  figure,  and  according  to 
others  in  a  number  of  figures,  but  at  any  rate  in  such  a  manner  as  to  suggest 
all  its  good  and  all  its  evil  qualities  in  dramatic  and  well-studied  combination. 
As  Demos  was  brought  upon  the  stage  about  the  same  time  by  Aristophanes 
in  his  play  of  The  KiiigJits,  we  may  safely  infer  that  it  was  as  a  single  per- 
sonage that  he  figured  also  in  the  painting  of  Parrhasios. 

Of  single  gods  and  heroes  he  chose  out  Hermes,  Prometheus,  Herakles,  and 
Theseus.  As  subjects  rather  of  genre  or  every-day  life,  we  hear  of  a  Thracian 
nurse  carrying  a  child  on  her  arm,  and  two  boys,  one  of  whom  seemed  to  personify 
the  simpleness,  and  the  other  the  pertness,  of  his  )-cars.  In  the  same  spirit  must 
have  been  conceived  the  portrait  of  a  high  priest  of  Rhea,  and  another  priest 
with  a  garlanded  boy  holding  a  censer  beside  him.  To  the  same  class  belong 
the  famous  curtain  with  which  Parrhasios  outdid  Zeuxis,  and  the  small  licentious 
pieces  which,  according  to  Pliny,  he  used  to  paint  for  his  own  delectation. 

Sublimity,  morality,  and  ethical  greatness  do  not  seem  to  have  been  the  aim 
of  Parrhasios.  Manners  grew  more  lax  and  sensual,  and  art  followed  them. 
When,  therefore,  Ouintilian  declares  that  the  forms  of  gods  and  heroes  painted 
by  Parrhasios  set  a  standard  to  his  successors,  in  virtue  of  which  he  was  st)'led 
the  legislator  of  these  things,  this  must  refer  especialK',  as  is  shown  b}-  all  we 
have  said,  to  the  contours  and  proportions  he  gave  to  the  human  figure.  If 
Parrhasios  out-rivalled  Zeuxis  in  some  particulars,  he  tried  too  to  outdo  him 
in  self-glorification  concerning  his  art  and  in  ostentatiousness  of  demeanour.  He 
flaunted  about  in  a  purjjle  robe,  with  a  gold  wreath  on  his  head  and  gold  clasps 
to  his  sandals;  he  i)ainlc(l  his  own  portrait,  and  called  it  the  god  Hermes; 
he  celebrated  himself  in  |)rosc  ami  verse  as  a  descendant  of  Apollo  and  one  of 
the   kings  of  art  ;   he   gave    himself  the  title  Jiabrodiaitos,  with  reference  to  his 


5° 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


delicate  livinj^,  which   scoffers   changed   into  "  rJiahdodiaitos','  from  his  living   by 

his  pencil. 

As  Parrhasios  had  beaten  Zeuxis,  so  Timanfncs,  the  third  artist  in  this 
succession,  is  said  to  have  outdone  Parrhasios,  to  the  latter's  great  annoy- 
ance, in  a  pictorial  competition  of  which  the  subject  was  the  contest  between 
Ajax  and  Ulysses  for  the  arms  of  Achilles.  The  birthplace  of  Timanthes  is 
variously  given,  but  was  probably  the  island  of  Kythnos.      His  competition  with 


Fig.  8. 


Parrhasios  took  place  at  Samos.  He  seems,  however,  to  have  lived  at  a  later 
period  of  his  life  at  Sikyon.  The  most  famous  of  his  works  was  the  Sacrifice 
of  Iphigeneia.  The  maiden  was  represented  standing  before  the  altar  on  which 
she  was  about  to  be  offered  up,  and  a  deep  compassion  was  expressed  in  the 
faces  of  all  the  bystanders.  The  graduated  scale  of  intensity,  in  the  expression 
of  pain  upon  their  several  countenances,  especially  struck  the  ancients  as  some- 
thing new  in  art.  Valerius  Maximus  says  that  Kalchas  stood  with  looks  of 
sorrow,  Ulysses  gloomily  downcast,  Ajax  weeping,  Menelaos  wailing  aloud,  and 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND   ITALY.  51 

to  indicate  the  last  climax  of  grief,  Agamemnon,  the  father  of  the  victim,  was 
represented  with  his  head  veiled  from  view.  We  possess  a  Pompeian  wall- 
painting  (Fig.  8)  which  is  simpler  than  most  of  such  pictures,  and  which  agrees 
with  the  above  account,  in  so  far  as  it  includes  a  sorrowful  Kalchas  and  a  veiled 
Agamemnon.  The  other  incidents  differ  from  those  in  the  picture  of  Timanthes  ; 
still  we  may  assume  that  from  it  our  Pompeian  example  is,  if  but  indirectly, 
derived.^ 

From  the  description  of  this  Sacrifice  of  Iphigeneia,  which  was  one  of  the 
most  celebrated  of  all  pictures  in  antiquity,  we  can  to  some  extent  understand 
the  verdict  of  ancient  writers,  who,  high  as  they  place  the  artistic  skill  of  Timan- 
thes, prize  yet  higher  his  suggestive  invention,  declaring  emphatically  that  in  his 
works,  and  in  his  alone,  the  spectator  seems  to  see  more  than  is  actually  there. 
If  we  have  therefore  to  think  of  him  as  an  artist  on  the  same  general  level  of 
technical  perfection  as  his  contemporaries  Zeuxis  and  Parrhasios  in  the  qualities 
of  mind  and  moral  significance,  we  must  probably  suppose  his  work  to  have 
surpassed  theirs. 

If  we  have  been  approximately  right  in  treating  Parrhasios,  Zeuxis,  and 
Timanthes  as  representatives  of  an  Ionian  school  of  painting  in  the  age  of  the 
Peloponnesian  war,  we  have  still  further  evidence  of  the  existence  of  a  Dorian 
school  which  flourished  in  the  Peloponnesian  town  of  Sikyon,  during  the  same 
age  and  later, — in  the  period,  speaking  generally,  between  the  end  of  the  Pelo- 
ponnesian war  and  the  death  of  Alexander  the  Great.  This  group  is  the  first 
that  deserves  to  be  called,  in  the  full  sense  of  the  word,  a  school  ;  since  the 
masters  who  composed  it  are  the  first  of  whom  we  learn  that  they  made  the 
training  of  pupils  a  regular  part  of  their  profession,  and  accordingly  laid  parti- 
cular stress  upon  academical  correctness,  which  they  cultivated  theoretically  with 
the  help  of  mathematics,  and  practically  by  conscientious  study  of  nature.^ 

Eupompos  is  considered  the  founder  of  the  Sikyonian  school.  We  know 
nothing  more  of  him  than  that  he  was  a  contemporary  of  Parrhasios  and 
Timanthes,  and  that  he  was  held  in  high  repute  at  Sikyon  ;  that  he  painted 
a  gymnastic  winner  with  his  palm  ;  and  that  he  expressed  the  opinion  that  the 
artist  who  wished  to  succeed  must  go  first  of  all  to  nature  as  his  teacher.  His 
pupil  Pamphilos  brought  the  school  to  maturity.  The  course  of  teaching  in  his 
studio  is  said  to  have  lasted  twelve  years,  and  the  fee  was  a  whole  talent.  The 
renowned  Apelles  was  among  his  pupils.  It  was  Pamphilos  who  recognised 
and  introduced  the  necessity  of  scientific  study  for  the  painter,  especiall}'  the 
sciences  of  number  and  geometry  ;  it  was  through  his  influence  that  the 
teaching  of  drawing  was  established  in  all  the  boys'  schools  of  Greece  ;  it  was 
he,  again,  who  gave  a  new  development  to  the  method  of  encaustic  painting  in 
wax.  This  method  li.ul  been  occasionally  employed  before  ;  but  it  ^^'as  from 
the  time  of  Pamphilos  only  that  it  took  its  place  on  equal  terms  beside  the 
method,  hitherto   universal  for  easel-pictures,  of  distemper.      In  this   process  of 


52  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

encaustic,  the  colours  were  prepared  in  little  rods  heated  red  hot  and  laid  on 
with  the  spatula  ;  its  difficulty  made  it  suitable  only  for  small  pictures,  but  the 
brilliancy  of  the  result  gave  it  a  place  in  ancient  art  analogous  to  that  of  oil- 
painting  among  the  moderns.  Of  the  works  of  Pamphilos  we  only  know, 
I,  a  family  picture;  2,  a  historical  picture  representing  the  history  of  the 
Athenians  at  Phlius  ;  3,  a  painting  from  the  epic  cycle,  described  as  "  Ulysses 
in  his  boat."  He  seems  to  owe  his  fame  more  to  his  powers  as  a  teacher  than 
as  an  original  painter.  "  It  is  not  so  much,"  says  Brunn,  "  on  his  artistic  skill, 
or  how  much  he  could  do,  as  on  his  artistic  science,  or  how  much  he  knew,  that 
stress  is  laid  in  the  mention  of  Pamphilos." 

Next  after  Pamphilos  came  his  pupil  Melanthios,  who  inherited  from  him 
the  bent  towards  investigating  the  scientific  foundations  of  the  pictorial  process. 
In  the  matter  of  composition,  the  first  place  is  said  to  have  been  readily 
conceded  to  Melanthios  by  his  famous  fellow-pupil  Apelles.  Yet  we  know  of 
only  one  picture  by  Melanthios,  and  that  only  by  name.  And  even  this  seems 
according  to  Plutarch  to  have  been  painted  by  the  master  not  alone,  but  in 
co-operation  with  his  pupils.  It  represented  Aristratos,  tyrant  of  Sikyon  at  the 
time  of  Philip  of  Macedon,  standing  beside  the  car  of  the  goddess  of  Victory  ; 
and  when  at  a  later  time  under  Aratos  all  effigies  of  tyrants  were  destroyed, 
the  work  of  Melanthios  owed  a  partial  preservation  to  nothing  but  the  fact  that 
another  painter  scraped  out  the  figure  of  Aristratos,  and  painted  in  a  palm-tree 
in  its  place. 

The  chief  practical  representative  of  the  Sikyonian  school  of  Pamphilos  was 

Pausias.      He  too  was  one  of  those  whose  technical  improvements  in  his  art  made 

a  great  impression  on  his  contemporaries.      For  instance,  it  is  quoted  as  a  novel 

and  striking  effect,  that  in  one  of  his  pictures  the  face  of  Methe  (or  personified 

Intoxication)  was  visible  through  the  transparent   substance  of  the  glass  out  of 

which  she  drank  ;   and  as  a  thing  more  admirable  still,  that  in  a  great  picture  of 

a  sacrifice,  the  sacrificial  ox  was  drawn  in  bold  foreshortening,  with  such  skill  that 

the  eye  seemed  able  to  measure  his  length.     At  the  same  time  Pausias  developed, 

it  seems,  a  more  natural  method  of  representing  the  modelling  of  objects  by  the 

gradations  of  a  single  colour,  instead  of  using,  as  his  predecessors  had  done,  one 

distinct  colour  to  represent  the   lighter  or  projecting  parts  of  solid  objects   and 

another  to   represent  their  darker  or  retreating  parts.      It  seems  to   have  been 

by  the  technical  capabilities  of   encaustic  that    Pausias  was  led   on   to  these 

improvements  in  the  colourist's  part  of  his  art.      He  did  so  much  to  perfect  this 

method   that   Pliny  calls  him  the  first  who  became  distinguished   in  it.      It  was, 

we  learn,  a  slow  method  ;   and  hence  the  pictures  of  Pausias  were  all  taken  from 

familiar  life,  and   on   a  small    scale  ;   we   find    them   expressly  contrasted   with 

the   monumental  works   of  the  battle-painters,  and   the  famous   Sacrifice  above 

mentioned  is  the  only  example  quoted  of  his   powers  on  the  great   scale.      His 

favourite  themes,  according  to  Pliny,  were  "  boys,"  that  is,  no  doubt,  scenes  ot 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  53 

child  life.  He  also  painted  a  picture  of  his  mistress  Glykera,  in  the  character 
of  a  weaver  or  seller  of  garlands  ;  a  famous  work,  which  among  other  things 
earned  for  him  the  earliest  reputation  as  a  flower-painter  which  we  meet  with 
in  the  history  of  art. 

Among  the  many  paintings  of  this  Sikyonian  school  which  the  /Edilc 
Scaurus  at  a  later  period  transported  to  Rome,  were  several  works  of  Pausias. 
Their  technical  refinement,  and  the  nature  of  their  subjects,  destitute  of  all 
ethical  interest  but  drawn  fresh  from  life,  seem  to  have  had  special  attractions 
for  the  later  Romans.  On  the  other  hand  it  was  alleged  against  him,  what 
indeed  we  should  naturally  expect,  that  he  was  not  particularly  successful  in  a 
restoration  which  he  was  commissioned  to  execute  of  the  mural-paintings  of 
Polygnotos.  Taking  all  these  facts  into  consideration,  we  can  feel  tolerably 
certain  as  to  the  place  and  character  of  this  painter  in  the  history  of  art.  As 
a  teacher,  also,  he  enjoyed  a  considerable  celebrit}'.  However,  the  independent 
importance  of  the  Sikyonian  school  seems  not  to  have  survived  his  scholars 
and  successors,  who  form  the  connecting  link  with  the  post-Alexandrian  age. 

To  the  third  school  of  Greek  painters,  which  flourished  in  the  fourth  centur}- 
B.C.,  we  have  given,  following  Brunn,  the  name  of  Theban-Attic.  We  use  this 
double  name  because  this  school,  originating  in  Thebes,  after  the  rapid  decline 
of  that  city  took  root  without  breach  of  continuit)-  first  at  Corinth  and  then 
at  Athens.  In  contrast  to  that  severe  academic  exactness  and  thoroughness 
(called  by  the  Greeks  cJirestograpJiy)  which  distinguished  the  Sikyonian  school, 
we  find  in  the  Thcban-Attic  school  a  greater  ease  and  versatility,  and  an 
invention  more  intent  upon  the  expression  of  human  emotion.  We  can  only 
here  notice  their  four  chief  painters,  of  whom  Nikomachos  and  Aristeides  were 
established  at  Thebes,  Euphranor  in  Corinth,  and  Nikias  in  Athens. 

Nikomachos,  who  was  living  about  B.C.  360,  and  was  the  pupil  of  his  father 
Aristaios,  is,  so  far  as  we  know,  the  first  Theban  painter  of  note.  In  asserting 
that  the  fame  of  Nikomachos  by  an  unkind  fate  fell  short  of  his  deserts,  an 
ancient  writer  has  assured  that  very  fame  for  all  time  ;  though,  unfortunately,  our 
details  concerning  him  are  scanty.  Among  his  paintings,  of  which  the  subjects 
seem  to  have  been  entirely  derived  from  Greek  m\'thology,  the  most  celebrated 
were — a  Rape  of  Proserpine,  Victory  ascending  to  heaven  in  a  four-horse 
chariot,  Kybele  riding  on  a  lion,  a  Skylla,  and  then,  on  a  more  familiar  level, 
a  company  of  Bacchants  surprised  by  Satyrs.  Nikomachos  seems  to  ha\e  been 
celebrated  for  the  '-apidity  and  facility  of  his  brush.  In  a  few  days  he  finished 
for  the  before-mentioned  tyrant  Aristratos  the  pictorial  decorations  of  the 
monument  of  the  poet  Telestes.  But  it  is  expressly  noted  that  this  studied 
and  showy  velocity  of  handling  was  not  allowed  in  an\-  way  to  impair  the 
completeness  and  beauty  of  the  result. 

Aristeides,  the  son  or  brother  and  in  either  case  the  scholar  of  Nikomachos, 
was  the   only  famous  artist   of  the   name  ;   so  that  we  max-  waive  the  question 


54  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

whether  it  was  or  was  not  also  borne  by  another  and  older  master.  Of  the 
works  of  Aristeides  we  can  form  a  clear  idea,  since  their  subjects,  described  by 
Pliny,  correspond  with  the  general  verdict  passed  by  that  writer  on  their  merits. 
Thus  we  are  told  that  in  a  representation  of  the  taking  of  a  town  (perhaps  Troy) 
Aristeides  represented  the  dismay  of  a  mortally  wounded  mother  whose  child 
still  craves  for  the  breast.  Another  of  his  subjects,  apparently  mythological, 
was  a, woman  hanging  herself  out  of  love  for  her  brother  ;^  another  was  a  tragic 
actor ;  another,  again,  a  sick  man,  "  esteemed  above  measure."  It  is  evident 
from  these  accounts  that  Aristeides  specially  devoted  himself  to  the  repre- 
sentation of  the  affections  of  the  mind,  and  to  those,  above  all,  which  spring 
from  bodily  pain.  This  view  is  confirmed  by  the  statement  of  Pliny  that 
Aristeides  was  the  first  to  express  the  feelings  of  the  human  mind  and  senses, 
as  well  as  the  throes  of  pain.  And  hence  we  are  not  surprised  by  the  remark 
of  the  same  author,  that  the  colouring  of  this  painter  was  somewhat  hard  ; 
for,  as  Brunn  observes,  we  see  in  modern  art  that  the  painters  who  lay  the 
greatest  stress  on  the  representation  of  the  mental  affections  are  often  careless 
in  their  colouring.  The  fame  of  Aristeides  may  be  inferred  from  another 
account,  according  to  which  he  stipulated  for  a  thousand  minae  for  a  great 
picture  of  the  battle  with  the  Persians.  As  there  were  a  hundred  figures  in 
this  picture,  he  would  have  been  paid  at  the  rate  of  ten  minae  a  figure.  The 
whole  sum,  reckoned  in  our  currency,  may  be  calculated  at  about  i)i8  50.  At 
a  later  period  Attalos,  King  of  Pergamos,  offered  a  hundred  talents  (more  than 
;^20,000)  for  the  Dionysos  of  the  same  painter,  one  of  his  most  celebrated 
works,  which  was  preserved  at  Rome  in  the  temple  of  Ceres. 

The  third  distinguished  painter  of  this  school,  who  was  a  pupil  of  Aristeides 
and  celebrated  also  as  a  sculptor,  was  Euphranor.  Euphranor  ranks  among 
the  most  many-sided  and  thorough  artists  of  antiquity.  He  worked  in  Corinth, 
and  seems  to  have  combined  the  excellencies  of  his  Theban  master  with  those 
of  the  neighbouring  school  of  Sikyon.  We  only  hear  of  four  of  his  pictures, 
but  these  prove  his  versatility.  In  a  representation  of  the  twelve  Olympian 
gods  he  entered  on  the  domain  of  religious  painting  proper.  A  Battle  of 
Cavalry  was  evidently  a  historical  painting  ;  in  a  picture  of  the  simulated 
madness  of  Ulysses,  Euphranor  drew  from  the  tales  of  the  heroes  a  motive 
of  physiological  interest  ;  and  finally  his  Theseus  with  the  personifications 
of  Democracy  and  the  Demos  must  be  regarded  as  a  subject  political  and 
quasi-allegorical.  To  all  these  pictures  peculiar  qualities  are  ascribed.  It 
was  said,  for  instance,  of  his  Theseus,  that  he  looked  as  if  he  had  been  fed 
on  beef,  while  the  Theseus  of  Parrhasios  looked  as  if  he  had  been  fed 
on  roses.  In  his  picture  of  the  twelve  gods,  Euphranor  is  said  to  have 
given  to  his  Poseidon  such  an  air  of  majesty  that  he  had  no  higher  expression 
left  for  Zeus  These  traditions  correspond  with  the  general  judgment  of 
Pliny,  that  Euphranor  was  the  first  painter  to  do  justice  to  the  type  and  cha- 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  55 

racter  of  the  Greek  hero  (but  the  first  only,  we  must  understand,  amon^  the 
later  schools — among  those  who  had  completely  mastered  the  technical  condi- 
tions of  their  art).  He  is  also  said  to  have  studied  human  proportions,  and  to 
have  left  treatises  both  on  this  subject  and  on  colour  ;  though  it  was  thought 
that  the  limbs  and  heads  were  too  large  in  proportion  to  the  slender  bodies  of 
his  heroes.  He  is  always  put  in  the  first  rank  of  painters,  and  the  traditions 
as  to  his  works  are  in  accordance  with  what  we  are  told  of  his  style.  We 
must  think  of  him  as  an  artist  as  far  removed  as  possible  from  the  effeminacy 
of  the  decadence,  but  rather  as  characterised  by  manly  force,  and  as  know- 
ing also  how  to  turn  to  account  opportunities  of  psychological  expression, 
such  as  that  given  by  the  Ulysses  subject  aforesaid.  Euphranor  had,  it  seems, 
worked  for  Athens  ;  at  any  rate,  it  is  entirely  at  Athens  that  we  can  trace  his 
school  ;  a  school  of  which  the  chief  name,  Nikias,  is  only  that  of  the  pupil's 
pupil  of  the  master. 

Nikias  the  Athenian  is  connected  in  the  history  of  art  with  the  vexed 
question  how  far  "  polychromy,"  colour-tinting,  was  applied  by  the  ancients  to 
marble  statues.  When  the  great  sculptor  Praxiteles  was  asked  which  of  his 
works  in  marble  he  valued  most,  he  is  said  to  have  answered,  "  Those  on  which 
Nikias  has  set  his  mark  ;"  and  Pliny  explains  this  expression  by  the  comment, 
"  So  much  importance  did  Praxiteles  attach  to  the  circuinlitio  applied  by  Nikias." 
]^ut  apart  from  this  question,  what  is  the  precise  meaning  of  this  word  circum/itw, 
i.e.,  surface-tinting  or  wash,  a  question  which  need  not  detain  us  here,  Nikias 
ranks  amongst  the  most  distinguished  artists  of  antiquity.  His  wealth  was  such 
that  when  King  Ptolemy  offered  him  sixty  talents  for  his  picture  of  the  visit  of 
Ulysses  to  the  under-world,  he  declined  the  royal  offer  and  gave  the  picture  to 
his  native  city.  Moreover,  he  was  so  entirely  absorbed  in  his  art  as  to  forget 
all  earthly  wants,  and  is  said  to  have  had  often  to  ask  his  slaves  whether  he 
had  bathed,  breakfasted,  and  the  like.  With  regard  to  his  technical  excellencies, 
his  chiaroscuro  is  especially  praised,  and  he  is  said  to  have  set  great  store  upon 
the  quality  of  relief  in  a  painting  ;  two  properties  which  naturally  coincide.  But 
Nikias  was  not  one  of  those  painters  who,  in  their  love  for  the  mere  metier, 
maintain  the  principle  that  is  of  no  consequence  what  the  artist  paints,  but 
onl\^  how  he  paints  it.  On  the  contrary,  he  used  to  say  that  the  subject  as 
such  was  as  essential  a  matter  in  painting  as  the  fable  in  poetry  ;  and  he  gave 
a  practical  illustration  of  this  law  when  he  declared  that  the  artist  should  choose 
a  worthy  theme,  and  not  fritter  away  his  skill  on  insignificant  objects  such  as 
birds  and  flowers,  but  rather  paint  battles  of  caxalry  and  sea-fights.  In  par- 
ticular his  women  were  admired,  also  his  animals,  and  especially  his  dogs.  The 
list  of  his  works  which  has  reached  us  contains  a  whole  series  of  heroines,  but 
we  slK;uld  expect  from  the  general  tentiency  of  the  master  that  these  would  be 
only  the  chief  figures  in  compositions  illustrating  their  respective  myths.  When 
Pliny,    however,    specifically    describes    as    "large"   pictures    his    ('al\-ps(),    lo, 


56 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


Andromeda,  and  also  his  portrait  of  Alexander,  \vc  must  assume  that  these 
Avere  distemper  pictures  ;  while  those  which  Pliny  previously  mentions  must 
have  been  works    in    encaustic,  and    were   certainly  on   a   smaller   scale,  as,  for 


i:/lL^,U  .  <r'L  ,.  -J 


Fii;.  q 


instance,  the  Hyakinthos,  the  Dionysos,  and  the  Nck\ia  (the  last  apparently  a 
piece  in  which  the  landscape  element  was  predominant)  ;  and  among,  female 
figures,  the  Danae  and  the  celebrated  personification  of  Nemea.  Of  the  Nemea, 
indeed,    it   is   expressly   said   that   Nikias   himself  specified   it   as   an   encaustic 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  57 

work,  b\'  an  inscription  stating  that  he  had  "  burned  it  in."  It  is  very  possible 
that  repHcas  of  the  Jo  of  Nikias  exist  in  several  wall-paintings  at  Pompeii, 
and  in  a  more  complete  form  in  one  at  Rome,  in  the  Palatine.^^  Nikias  seems 
to  have  survived  Alexander  the  Great  ;  and,  speaking  generally,  the  careers  of 
these  latest  representatives  of  the  Sikyonian  and  Theban-Attic  schools  will  have 
reached  quite  into  the  time  of  that  cosmopolite  and  international  Greek  culture 
which  ensued  after  the  death  of  Alexander  the  Great,  and  which  we  call  Hel- 
lenism. Still,  it  is  most  convenient  to  speak  of  them  in  connection  with  the 
school  from  which  they  were  descended. 

Contemporary  with  these  masters,  in  the  age  of  Alexander  and  his  immediate 
successors,  there  flourished  other  Greek  painters  of  high  renown,  whom  we  may 
regard  as  belonging  more  specifically  still  to  the  beginning  of  the  new,  the 
Hellenistic  period  of  Greek  civilisation.  At  their  head  stands  Apelles,  beyond 
all  question  the  most  famous  among  the  man)'  famous  painters  of  Greece.  His 
name  in  antiquity  was  as  much  used  to  express  the  ideal  of  perfection  in  his  art 
as  that  of  Raphael  in  modern  times.  Apelles,  says  Plin}-,  surpassed  all  earlier 
and  later  painters.  Recent  researches  have  endeavoured  more  closeh'  to  define 
the  qualities  of  this  extraordinary  artist,  and  in  so  doing,  to  bring  his  merits 
within  somewhat  narrower  limits.  Some  critics  abide  in  the  conviction  that  he 
was  the  Raphael  of  antiquit\-  ;  others  compare  him  to  Correggio.  Of  course 
such  comparisons  cannot  possibly  be  more  than  conjectural  on  the  one  hand  and 
approximative  on  the  other  ;  and  if  we  could  see  his  works,  wc  might  find  that 
he  was  like  no  one  but  himsclf^^ 

Apelles  was  a  true-born  Ionian  of  Asia  Minor.  Most  ancient  authorities 
speak  of  him  as  having  been,  like  Parrhasios,  an  Ephesian,  a  statement  which, 
however,  is  modified  in  a  manner  we  have  no  reason  to  distrust  by  one  writer 
who  says  that  he  received  the  right  of  citizen  at  Ephesos,  but  was  born  at  the 
neighbouring  town  of  Kolophon.  It  was  at  Ephesos,  then  so  rich  in  works  of  art, 
that  Apelles  was  first  put  by  his  father  to  study  under  Ephoros,  a  painter  other- 
wise unknown.  And  his  progress  must  have  been  rapid,  for  wc  learn  that  when  he 
determined  to  complete  his  studies  at  the  celebrated  school  of  Sikyon,  he  was 
alread)'  an  admired  artist,  whom  men  esteemed  fitter  to  share  the  glory  than  to 
profit  by  the  teaching  of  the  Dorian  school.  However,  he  duly  paid  to  Pampiiilos 
at  Sikyon  the  high  fee  demanded  by  that  master  from  a  pu[)il,  and  appears  to 
have  shown  the  greatest  diligence  in  making  his  own  all  the  theoretical  and  tech- 
nical attainments  of  his  teacher.  We  may  be  sure  that  he  must  have  derived 
peculiar  advantages  from  the  combination  of  Doric  thoroughness  and  accu- 
racy with  his  innate  Ionic  facility  and  glow  of  feeling.  In  fact,  public  opinion 
seems  to  have  so  .soon  distinguished  Apelles,  that  Philii)  of  Macedon,  who  aimed 
at  attracting  to  his  court  the  most  distinguished  representatives  of  Hellenic 
culture,  induced  him  to  take  u\)  his  residence  in  Pclla,  the  Macedonian  capital. 
In  that  court  a  society  of  artists  was  forming  itself.     Along  with  Apelles  the 

1 


58  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

sculptor  Lysippos  held  especial  eminence.  Artists  lived  on  intimate  terms  with 
the  princes  and  great  men  of  the  city.  Apelles  must  have  early  formed  a  friend- 
ship with  the  young  Alexander.  When  this  prince  ascended  the  throne,  he 
appointed  Apelles  court  painter,  and  is  said  even  to  have  forbidden  by  edict  the 
painting  of  his  portrait  by  any  other  artist.  When  Alexander  undertook  his 
Asiatic  campaign,  Apelles  must  have  left  Macedonia.  We  find  him  established 
in  Ephesos,  where  the  right  of  citizenship  had  probably  by  this  time  been  con- 
ferred on  him. 

The  subjects  which  the  Macedonian  artists  had  to  deal  with  were  of  a  truly 
monarchical  character.  There  was  no  thought  of  the  problems  of  ideal  art ;  the 
painter's  mission  was  to  celebrate  the  person  and  the  deeds  of  the  king,  as  well 
as  those  of  his  captains  and  chief  men.  To  this  sphere  may  be  assigned  all  the 
celebrated  paintings  executed  in  the  first  period  of  the  art  of  Apelles.  These 
pictures  were  portraits,  some  of  which  had  no  pretensions  to  be  anything  more, 
while  in  others  the  artist  rose  to  the  height  of  historical  painting,  or  represented 
with  flattering  allegory  the  apotheosis  of  the  prince.  It  would  be  superfluous, 
says  Pliny,  to  record  how  often  Apelles  painted  Philip  and  Alexander.  Among 
the  most  famous  of  these  allegorical  portraits  was  that  of  Alexander  which 
adorned  the  temple  of  Artemis  at  Ephesos,  then  lately  rebuilt  after  having  been 
burnt  by  Herostratos.  The  outstretched  right  hand  of  the  king  held,  as  if  it 
had  been  the  hand  of  Zeus,  the  thunderbolt,  and  seemed  to  advance  out  of  the 
picture  ;  to  achieve  which  effect  the  face  was  kept  in  shadow.  Alexander  paid 
twenty  talents  (nearly  five  thousand  pounds)  for  this  work,  and  used  to  say  that 
there  were  two  Alexanders,  one  invincible,  the  son  of  Philip,  and  one  immutable, 
the  work  of  Apelles.  The  great  king  was  also  painted  on  his  triumphal  car, 
followed  by  a  figure  of  War  represented  in  fetters.  In  another  work  the  painter 
associated  him  with  Kastor,  Polydeukes,  and  the  goddess  of  Victory,  Lastly,  there 
was  a  portrait  of  a  mounted  Alexander,  in  which  the  horse  was  so  true  to  life 
that  other  horses  neighed  at  sight  of  it.  The  number  of  Macedonian  magnates 
whom  Apelles  painted  is  very  considerable.  Kleitos  he  figured  on  horseback 
about  to  engage  in  battle,  and  in  the  act  of  putting  on  the  helmet  which  a 
servant  reaches  him.  Archelaos,  on  the  other  hand,  was  shown  in  a  domestic 
group,  surrounded  by  his  family.  Antigonos  seems  to  have  often  been  painted 
by  Apelles.  In  a  celebrated  portrait  of  this  king  on  horseback,  the  loss  of  one 
eye  was  concealed  by  treating  the  face  in  profile.  To  the  same  class  must  have 
belonged  also  that  picture  which  represented  the  festive  procession  of  Megabyzos, 
the  high  priest  of  Artemis  at  Ephesos.  Among  portraits  of  the  ladies  of  Alex- 
ander's court,  that  of  the  beautiful  Pankaspe,  the  mistress  of  the  king,  was  famous 
not  only  on  account  of  the  splendid  life-like  flesh  tints  of  her  undraped  form, 
but  also  on  account  of  the  romantic  tale  which  tells  how  Apelles  in  the  course 
of  this  work  fell  in  love  with  his  beautiful  model,  and  how  Alexander  in  a  burst 
of  generosity  gave  her  up  to  him.    Apelles  survived  his  bountiful  patron.    Of  his 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  "  59 

mythological  pictures,  we  must  ascribe  the  greater  number  to  the  latter  part  of 
his  career,  though  it  is  possible  some  of  them  may  have  belonged  to  an  earlier 
period.  But  it  seems  natural  that  Apelles,  so  long  as  he  was  the  court  painter 
of  Alexander,  should  have  found  but  little  time  to  work  out  subjects  drawn  at 
his  own  choice  from  the  regions  of  the  ideal. 

Apelles  seems  to  have  continued  to  make  his  home  at  Ephesus.     Of  his 
excursions  elsewhere,  that  of  which  we  have   most    knowledge  is  the  visit  he 
undertook  to  Alexandria  to  pay  his  respects  to  Ptolemy,  the  son  of  Lagos,  the 
new  Hellenistic  king  of  Egypt.     This  prince  was  a  lover  of  art,  but  at  Pella,  the 
Macedonian  capital  in  the  old  days,  Apelles  does  not  seem  to  have  succeeded  in 
winning   his    favour,   and   even   now,   at    Alexandria,   had    to    struggle    against 
snares  laid  for  him  by  his  rivals.     Antiphilos,  of  whom  we  shall  speak  presently, 
seems  to  have  been  the   court    painter  proper,  and    he,  perhaps    fearing  that 
Apelles  would  supplant  him,  tried  to  put  difficulties  in  his  way.     A  well-known 
story  tells  how  a  forged  invitation  to  the  king's  table  was  sent  to  Apelles  by  his 
enemies,  and  how  he  appeased  the  king's  wrath  by  sketching  on  the  wall  a  like- 
ness of  the  servant  who  had  brought  the  invitation.     It  was  in  Alexandria,  too, 
that  Apelles  is  said  to  have  painted  an  allegorical  picture  of  Calumny  to  punish 
his  detractors.     He  must  also  at  one  time  have  lived  in  Rhodes,  as  it  was  there 
he  met  his  distinguished  contemporary  Protogenes.      It  is  probable  that  he  also 
visited  Athens  ;  and  lastly  he  is  said  to  have  begun  one  of  his  famous  pictures 
of  Aphrodite  in  the  island  of  Kos,  but  to  have  been  overtaken  by  death  before 
it  was  finished.     It  is  therefore  not  unlikely  that  it  was  at  Kos  he  died. 

Lucian  has  given  us  a  detailed  description  of  Apelles'  allegory  of  Calumny, 
of  which  the  renown  in  antiquity  was  great,  though  to  us  the  invention  sounds 
questionable.  It  consisted  of  a  series  of  personified  ideas  of  the  mind,  which, 
though  abstract  in  their  nature,  were  depicted  in  vehement  action.  No  doubt 
the  conception,  as  such,  is  cold  and  unpromising  enough,  but  Apelles  must 
have  endowed  the  picture  with  all  his  own  peculiar  charm.  Its  great  fame 
induced  a  whole  series  of  Italian  and  German  artists  to  reproduce  it  from 
Lucian's  description.  Dlirer  himself  took  from  it  the  design  for  one  of  the  wall- 
paintings  in  the  town-hall  at  Nuremberg  ;  but  the  best  known  of  the  existing 
experiments  of  this  kind  is  the  picture  by  Sandro  Botticelli,  now  in  the  Uffizj  at 
Florence.  The  efforts  made  by  the  enemies  of  Apelles  to  prevent  his  appoint- 
ment at  the  court  of  Ptolemy  were  successful. 

Among  the  mythological  pictures  of  Apelles,  by  far  the  most  famous  was  the 
Aphrodite  Anadyomene,  in  which  Venus  was  seen  emerging  from  the  sea,  and 
wringing  out  the  moisture  from  her  hair  with  her  hands.  Whether  the  goddess 
was  shown  as  still  half  in  the  water,  or  already  standing  on  the  shore,  has  lately 
been  a  subject  of  discussion.  The  ancient  authorities  are  not  explicit  on  the 
point  ;  but  from  what  they  say  it  seems  to  us  unlikely  that  the  lower  part  of  the 
body  was  at  any  rate  wholly  under  water.     The  master  had  been  commissioned  by 


6o  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

the  citizens  of  Cos  to  paint  this  Aphrodite  for  their  temple  of  Asklepios.  The 
praises  of  the  picture  were  sung  by  many  poets,  and  it  took  among  paintings  of 
the  goddess  the  same  position  which  the  Aphrodite  of  Praxiteles,  at  Knidos, 
took  among  statues,  Augustus  carried  the  picture  to  Rome,  but  by  way  of 
compensation  remitted  a  hundred  talents  of  the  tribute  money  due  from  the 
people  of  the  island.  Soon  after  this,  however,  the  picture  perished.  Even  as 
early  as  the  time  of  Nero,  it  had  suffered  so  much  that  that  emperor  caused  it 
to  be  replaced  by  a  copy  from  the  hand  of  a  certain  Dorotheos.  The  happiest 
verses  in  praise  of  this  famous  picture  are  the  following  by  Leonidas  of  Tar- 
entum  : — 

Sweet  Aphrodite  from  the  ocean's  womb 

Fresh  risen,  and  all  her  beauty  shining-wet, 
Apelles  saw,  and  seeing,  Hmned  her  bloom 

So  true,  the  heart's  desire  seems  breathing  yet. 
Fair  ooze  her  locks  between  her  fingers  pressed  ; 
Fair  laughs  the  love-light  in  her  summer  eyes  ; 
Tells  of  ripe  youth  each  rounded  quince,  her  breast. 
Pallas  and  Juno,  at  the  fair  surprise, 
Must  cry.  To  her,  great  Zeus,  to  her,  not  us,  the  prize. 

{Aiithol.  Gnrc,  Leon.  Tar.  41.) 

The  best  idea  of  the  aspect  of  this  Venus  is  perhaps  given  by  certain  marble.s, 
both  smaller  and  larger,  found  in  Italy.  It  is  significant  of  the  position  held  by 
painting  in  antiquity  to  remember  that  even  sculpture  sometimes  borrowed  a 
leading  motive  from  a  famous  picture.  [Among  modern  masters,  Titian  has 
been  inspired  by  the  description  of  the  Aphrodite  Anadyomene  of  Apelles,  in 
the  famous  picture  of  the  same  subject  which  is  now  in  the  Bridgewater  Gallery.] 

The  second  Aphrodite  v/hich  Apelles  painted  for  Kos,  and  left  unfinished, 
is  said  also  to  have  been  very  beautiful ;  so  beautiful  that  no  one  ventured  to 
complete  it  after  him. 

Other  famous  mythological  paintings  of  the  master  were  his  draped  Charis, 
in  the  Odeion  at  Smyrna,  his  seated  Fortune,  and  his  Artemis  in  the  midst  of 
her  troop  of  virgin  huntresses.  If  these  pictures  probably  belong  to  the  artist's 
later  time,  we  seem  to  have  the  record  of  two  of  his  earlier  paintings,  produced 
more  immediately  under  the  influence  of  the  school  of  Sikyon,  in  two  figures  of 
Heakles.  In  one  of  these,  say  ancient  writers,  the  face  of  the  hero  was  turned 
away,  but  you  divined  its  aspect  as  if  you  saw  it  ;  in  the  other,  the  undraped 
body  of  the  hero  seemed  a  challenge  to  nature  herself. 

To  the  portraits  by  Apelles  already  mentioned  we  have  to  add  one  of  him- 
self. And  along  with  the  allegory  of  Calumny  we  may  class  another  alle- 
gorical piece  in  which  the  phenomena  of  the  weather  were  personified,  as  thunder, 
lightning,  the  discharge  of  the  thunderbolt.  That  these  powers  of  nature  were 
represented  in  the  likeness  of  female  figures  we  may  be  sure  from  their  names, 
Bronte,  Astrape,  Keraunobolia,  which  stand  in  their  Greek  forms  in  the  Latin 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  6r 

text  of  Pliny.  All  this  points  to  the  conclusion  that  the  special  talent  of  Apelles 
did  not  lie  in  large  historical  compositions  of  many  figures.  And  hence  we  seem 
to  understand  why  he  should  have  himself  assigned  to  one  of  his  fellow-scholars, 
Melanthios,  the  first  i)lace  in  the  art  of  disposition  or  distribution,  and  to  another, 
Asklepiodoros,  the  first  place  in  the  art  of  "measurements,"  which  means  probably 
the  knowledge  of  the  right  ratios  of  diminution  for  figures  standing  behind  one 
another  in  perspective.  These  excellencies  and  his  own  it  was  scarcely  possible 
that  Apelles  should  unite,  and  it  v>'as  wisely  that  he  confined  himself  to  the 
painting  of  that  which  he  could  paint  best.  In  faithful  imitation  of  nature  he 
was  second  to  none  ;  he  was  first  of  all  in  refinement  of  light  and  shade,  and 
consequent  fulness  of  relief  and  completeness  of  modelling.  One  of  his  technical 
innovations,  intended  to  promote  this  very  effect,  was  to  introduce  the  use  of  a 
transparent  coat  of  dark  glazing  or  varnish  over  his  completed  tempera-pictures. 
But  the  gift  in  which  he  was  pre-eminent  was,  as  he  himself  expressed  it,  that 
indefinable  gift  of  grace,  —  that  charm  of  beauty  which  fills  the  spirit  of  the 
beholder  with  yearning  sweetness, — and  with  this,  that  happy  dexterity  of  hand 
which  made  him  say  that  Protogenes  was  his  superior  in  all  things  save  one,  and 
that  was  in  knowing  when  to  stop.  Protogenes,  it  appears,  could  not  refrain 
from  over  scrupulous  and  laborious  finish,  hence  the  saying,  Mamnn  dc  tabula  ; 
"leave  off  in  time,"  That  the  touch  of  Apelles  was  just  as  sure  as  it  was  light, 
is,  on  the  other  hand,  attested  by  a  tale  to  the  effect  that,  calling  upon  Proto- 
genes for  the  first  time,  Apelles  found  him  not  at  home,  and  left  a  token  o 
himself  in  the  shape  of  a  line  drawn  with  colour  upon  the  table.  When 
Protogenes  came  home,  he  guessed  at  once  who  the  caller  had  been,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  draw  a  still  finer  line  of  another  colour,  along  and  within  the  line  of 
Apelles.  Over  this  finer  line,  however,  and  dividing  it,  Apelles  drew  a  third 
which  was  finest  of  all,  and  then  Protogenes  confessed  himself  beaten.  Of  the 
constant  practice  in  drawing  which  our  master  imposed  upon  himself,  we  have 
evidence  in  the  statement  that  he  never  passed  a  day  without  making  studies; 
whence  the  saying,  Ntilla  dies  sine  linea  ;   "  never  a  day  without  a  line." 

In  the  personal  character  of  Apelles  we  discern,  as  has  been  above  made 
clear,  great  modesty  and  a  ready  acknowledgment  of  the  merits  of  others — 
cjualities  in  strong  contrast  with  the  pride  of  a  Zeuxis  or  a  Parrhasios.  Thus, 
he  is  said  to  iiav-e  been  the  first  to  recognise  the  deserts  of  Protogenes,  and  to 
have  done  the  latter  an  essential  service  by  buying  up  his  unsold  pictures,  and 
giving  out  that  he  was  going  to  sell  them  as  his  own.  On  the  other  hand,  he 
knew  well  how  to  set  dou  n  the  pretensions  of  the  officious.  He  is  said  to  have 
advised  even  Alexander  to  be  silent  in  his  studio,  that  the  apprentices  who 
mixed  his  colours  might  not  laugh  at  him.  Bui  the  cobbler,  to  whose  criticism 
about  the  shoe-latchet  of  one  of  his  figures  Apelles  willingly  deferred,  when  he 
ventured  to  find  fault  with  the  leg  of  the  same  figure  was  answered  with  the 
saying  which  has  since  become  classical,  "Cobbler,  keep  to  yo\w  last." 


62  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

A  greater  number  of  characteristic  anecdotes  have  come  down  to  us  of 
Apelles  than  of  any  other  artist  of  antiquity.  I  do  not  set  so  slight  a  value  as 
some  critics  on  these  records,  since  there  is  a  certain  harmony  among  them,  and 
taken  together  they  seem  to  give  a  tolerably  clear  idea  of  the  personal  as  well 
as  the  artistic  character  of  the  master.  Apelles  was  in  all  points  a  child  of  his 
age.  For  strong  ethical  sublimity  and  ideal  grandeur  in  the  spirit  of  Polygnotos, 
the  time  had  lost  its  power.  Astonishing  technical  perfection  in  the  illusory 
imitation  of  nature,  but  withal  an  effect  proper  to  stir  the  senses  rather  than 
the  mind,  and  in  the  sphere  of  the  mind,  an  appeal  rather  to  the  ingenuities  of 
reason  than  to  the  simplicities  of  emotion,— these  were  the  qualities  demanded  by 
the  age  from  art,  Apelles  met  these  needs  and  sentiments  to  the  full,  and  his 
own  and  after  ages  have  rewarded  him  by  making  his  the  most  popular  name 
among  all  the  painters  of  the  old  world. 

The  greatest  of  the  contemporaries  of  Apelles  was  undoubtedly  the  above- 
mentioned  Protogenes.  By  birth  a  Karian  or  Lykian,  Protogenes  practised  his 
art  in  Rhodes.  We  have  already  learned  some  touches  of  his  character,  as 
shown  in  his  relations  with  Apelles.  He  is  said  also  to  have  been  very  poor, 
and  according  to  one  rather  improbable  account,  to  have  been  a  ship's  painter, 
and  so  in  fact  a  thorough  pictor  ignotus,  up  to  his  fiftieth  )'ear,  when  Apelles 
recognised  and  proclaimed  the  merit  of  his  pictures.  The  confidence  of  Proto- 
genes in  his  own  powers  increased  ;  for  when  Demetrios  made  war  against 
Rhodes,  the  artist  not  only  did  not  think  of  moving  from  his  little  garden,  which 
was  in  the  midst  of  the  enemies'  camp,  but  went  so  far  as  to  make  answer  to  the 
astonished  king  that  he  surely  was  making  war  against  the  Rhodians  and  not 
against  the  arts.  Demetrios  is  even  said  to  have  refrained  from  burning  the  town, 
to  spare  a  famous  picture  of  the  master's  which  was  there. 

The  most  celebrated  paintings  of  Protogenes  were  his  lalysos  and  his 
Satyr  taking  rest.  lalysos  was  an  ancestral  hero  in  Rhodes  ;  and  as  other 
subjects  painted  by  the  master,  such  as  Kydippe  the  mother  of  lalysos,  and 
Tlepolemos,  are  also  taken  from  the  heroic  legends  of  the  island,  it  seems  prob- 
able that  he  painted  a  whole  series  from  the  same  cycle.  In  Athens,  he 
painted  a  celebrated  picture  of  the  Attic  heroes  Paralos  and  Hammonias,  of 
which  we  can  form  no  very  clear  idea.  We  are  also  told  of  portraits  by  his 
hand  ;  among  these  was  one  of  the  mother  of  Aristotle.  So  far,  however,  was 
he  from  following  the  friendly  advice  of  that  philosopher,  that  he  should  devote 
his  art  to  commemorating  the  campaigns  of  Alexander,  that  he  only  grouped 
the  great  Macedonian  with  Pan  in  one  of  his  pictures. 

The  lalysos  of  Protogenes  is  by  far  the  most  frequently  mentioned  of  all 
his  paintings.  In  this  occurred  the  dog  whose  foaming  mouth  the  master  is 
said  to  have  got  so  like  nature  by  throwing  a  sponge  at  his  picture  in 
desperation.  In  this  too,  was  the  partridge,  which  though  only  a  piece 
of  secondary  detail,   so  riveted   the  attention   of  unprofessional  spectators   by 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  63 

its  extraordinar}-  realism   that   the  artist,  in   annoyance,  is  said  to  have  scraped 
it  out. 

To  reach  the  highest  degree  of  illusion  in  detail  seems  to  have  been  the 
great  aim  of  this  master  ;  and  like  the  Italians  of  the  fifteenth  century,  who 
described  such  realism  as  "  terrible,"  so  an  ancient  writer  said  that  he  could  not 
look  at  the  realism  of  Protogenes  without  a  certain  shudder,  iwti  sine  qiiodavi 
horrore}-  According  to  the  opinion  of  the  ancients,  Protogenes  had  attained 
this  startling  truth  of  imitation  by  the  most  anxious  extreme  of  carefulness. 
He  painted  very  slowl}' :  for  years  he  would  sit  at  the  same  panel,  going  over  it 
again  and  again,  partly,  as  it  seems,  with  the  idea  of  making  his  work  more 
durable.  We  discern  here  an  obvious  justification  of  the  friendly  criticism  of 
Apelles  concerning  his  rival,  that  this  excess  of  pains  robbed  his  work  of  charm. 
We  also  discern,  in  the  growing  love  of  the  age  for  realism,  an  obvious  reason 
why  Protogenes  was  placed  on  a  level  with  the  greatest  masters  of  the 
world. 

Antiphilos,  who  has  also  been  mentioned  before,  was  by  birth  a  Hellenistic 
Egyptian  ;  he  worked  at  Alexandria,  and  was  a  jealous  and  successful  rival  of 
Apelles.  He  must  have  been  a  versatile  and  skilful  painter  ;  for  we  learn  that 
he  not  only  painted  large  historical  and  mj'thological  pictures  in  tempera,  such 
as  a  famous  Hesione,  Hippolytos,  Kadmos  and  ^uropa,  Dionysos,  Alexander  and 
Philip  in  the  presence  of  Athene,  but  also  ^^;/r^-pictures,  probably  encaustic 
and  on  a  smaller  scale,  such  as  a  Boy  blowing  the  fire.  Women  dressing 
wool,  and  so  forth  ;  indeed  he  even  tried  his  strength  in  caricature  proper,  by 
caricaturing  a  certain  Gryllos,  with  a  visible  allusion  to  his  name  (which  means 
pig) ;  from  which  the  whole  of  such  caricatures  received  in  Greek  the  name  of 
Grylloi.  The  pictures  of  Antiphilos  seem  to  have  been  painted  chiefly  with  a 
view  to  specific  effects,  as  for  instance  the  illuminated  interior  in  the  picture  of 
the  boy  blowing  the  fire.  He  was  especially  celebrated  for  facility.  Pliny, 
however,  only  ranks  him  among  the  first  of  the  second  order  of  i)ainters. 

We  are  now  already  in  quite  a  new  world  of  art — a  world  which  reflects  the 
essential  change  which  has  come  over  the  spirit  of  the  time.  A  still  more 
characteristic  representative  of  the  age  was  Theon  of  Samos,  who  was  especi- 
ally distinguished  for  what  the  Greeks  called  phantasies.  A  Madness  of 
Orestes  was  among  his  most  famous  pictures.  What  we  are  to  understand 
by  the  term  phantasies  becomes  quite  clear  from  an  account  given  by 
<^lian  of  a  warrior  painted  by  Theon  in  full  armour  and  in  the  critical  action 
of  attack.  He  represented  him  quite  alone  on  the  panel,  and  with  so  much 
liveliness  that  he  seemed  as  if  plunging  forward  out  of  it.  To  complete  the 
illusion,  Theon  never  exhibited  his  picture  without  first  throwing  the  minds  of 
the  spectators  into  the  right  key  by  sounding  a  shrill  flourish  of  trumpets,  and 
then  suddenly  drawing  the  curtain.  The  principle  of  illusion  which  even 
Protogenes   had   kept   subservient   to  ends   artistic   at   least,  if  not  sublime  like 


64  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

those    of   Polygnotos,    becomes    thus    with  Theon    an    end   in   itself,    and    art 
degenerates  into  legerdemain. 

To  this  time  also  belonged  probably  Action,  whose  famous  picture  of  the 
marriage  of  Alexander  with  Roxane  we  know  from  a  detailed  description 
by  Lucian.  Painters  of  the  Renaissance  have  attempted  to  create  this  picture 
anew  from  the  description,  and  especially  Soddoma,  in  an  exquisite  work 
preserved  in  the  Villa  Farnese  at  Rome.  As  a  companion  to  this  we  are  told 
of  a  Marriage  of  Semiramis  from  the  same  hand.  The  element  of  luxurious 
passion  in  these  paintings  bespoke  the  spirit  of  the  Alexandrian  time. 

A  female  Greek  artist  called  Helena,  the  daughter  of  an  Egyptian  Timon,  is 
also  mentioned,  but  only  by  one  and  that  not  a  very  trustworthy  authority,  as 
having  lived  at  the  time  of  the  battle  of  Issos.  She  is  said  to  have  painted  a 
famous  picture  in  commemoration  of  that  victory.  If  this  account  may  be 
trusted,  it  can  scarcely  be  asserted  with  greater  probability  of  any  Greek 
painting  recorded  in  ancient  literature  than  of  this,  that  we  possess  a  reproduc- 
tion of  it  executed  in  later  days  of  antiquity.  We  refer  to  the  famous 
Pompeian  mosaic,  to  which  we  shall  return  below  (see  pp.  95-97). 

To  this  epoch,  finally,  should  be  assigned  the  development  of  that  school 
of  painting  in  little,  of  which  the  representative  names  are  Peiraiikos,  Kallikles, 
and  Kalates.  The  most  celebrated  of  these  was  Peiraiikos.  Pliny  says  of 
him,  "  I  do  not  know  whether  he,  who  was  behind  few  in  artistic  finish,  did 
not  purposely  condescend  to  mean  subjects  ;  since  in  treating  such  he  was  the 
foremost  name  of  all.  He  painted  barbers'  shops,  cobblers'  booths,  asses, 
eatables,  and  such  like,  from  which  he  received  the  surname  of  rJiypat'ograpJios 
(that  is,  rag-and-tatter  painter — probably  an  ironic  twist  of  the  term  rhopo- 
grapJios,  for  toy  painter  or  painter  of  small  and  trivial  subjects).  In  these 
things  he  attained  a  finished  perfection,  so  that  they  were  sold  for  higher 
prices  than  the  large  pictures  of  many  other  masters."  Peiraiikos  must  there- 
fore be  regarded  as  a  painter  oi  genre  and  still-life. 

We  see,  therefore,  that  about  B.C.  300,  at  the  beginning  of  the  Hellenistic 
age,  or  age  of  the  DiadocJii,  as  those  kings  were  called  who  divided  among  them 
the  dominions  of  Alexander,  Greek  painting  had  already  extended  its  achieve- 
ments to  almost  all  conceivable  themes  with  the  single  exception  of  landscape. 
Within  the  space  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  the  art  had  passed  through  every 
technical  stage,  from  the  tinted  profile  system  of  Polygnotos  to  the  properly 
pictorial  system  of  natural  scenes  enclosed  in  natural  backgrounds,  and  thence 
to  the  system  of  trick  and  artifice  which  aimed  at  the  realism  of  actual 
illusion  by  means  beyond  the  legitimate  scope  of  art. 

The  creative  power  of  Greek  painting  was  as  good  as  exhausted  by  this 
series  of  efforts.  In  the  following  centuries  the  art  survived  indeed,  as  a  pleasant 
after-growth,  in  some  of  its  old  seats  ;  but  few  artists  stand  out  with  strong 
individuality  from  among  their  contemporaries.      Only  a  master  here  and  there 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  65 

makes  a  name  for  himself.  The  one  of  these  whom  we  have  here  especially  to 
notice  is  Timomachos  of  Byzantium,  an  exception  of  undeniable  importance, 
since  even  at  this  late  period  of  Greek  culture  he  won  for  himself  a  world-wide 
celebrity. 

According  to  Pliny,  Timomachos  was  contemporary  with  Julius  Caesar, 
who  paid  a  large  sum  for  two  famous  pieces  by  his  hand,  an  Ajax  and  a  Medea. 
It  has  been  shown,  however,  that  Pliny  probably  confused  the  date  of  the 
purchase  with  that  of  the  artist's  career,  which  must  be  placed  in  an  earlier 
century. 

The  Medea  about  to  kill  her  children,  and  the  Ajax  resting  from  his 
madness,  were  the  most  famous  of  the  master's  w^orks,  and  were  most  likely 
pendants.  The  Medea  especially  has  been  not  less  praised  in  song  and 
epigram  than  the  Aphrodite  of  Apelles.  An  echo  of  the  original  perhaps 
remains  to  us  in  certain  Pompeian  wall-paintings.  The  Iphigeneia  in  Tauris 
and  the  Gorgon  of  the  same  master  were  also  celebrated  ;  and  lastly  a  fencing 
master  (or  whatever  character  is  signified  by  Pliny's  agilitatis  exejxitator),  and  a 
family  portrait  piece  are  mentioned  as  the  work  of  the  master.  The  chief  occupa- 
tion of  his  art  seems  therefore  to  have  been  with  mythological  themes  from 
tragedy.  From  all  that  we  are  told  of  these  paintings,  Timomachos  must  have 
avoided  in  them  the  limitations  as  well  as  the  defects  of  many  of  his  renowned 
forerunners.  He  seems  to  have  shown  a  happy  tact  in  choosing  the  right 
moment  for  representation,  as  when  he  showed  Medea  and  Ajax  not  actually 
engaged  in,  but  the  one  just  before,  and  the  other  just  after,  the  act  of  blood. 
He  knew  how  also  to  express  with  delicacy  and  depth  the  characters  and  emo- 
tions appropriate  to  these  subjects,  so  that  his  works,  it  seems,  may  have  surpassed 
in  ethical  and  tragical  effect  all  those  even  of  Zeuxis,  Parrhasios,  or  Apelles. 

•  One  branch  of  art  indeed,  namely  landscape,  seems  to  have  first  risen  into 
importance  at  this  time  of  decline  in  Greek  culture. ^^  We  can  gather  with 
certainty  from  poetry  and  literature  that  it  was  in  the  age  of  the  Diadochi 
that  the  innate  Greek  instinct  of  anthropomorphism,  of  personifying  nature  in 
human  forms,  from  a  combination  of  causes  was  gradually  modified  in  the  direction 
of  an  appreciation  of  natural  scenes  for  their  own  sake  and  as  they  really  are. 
For  the  first  time,  therefore,  art,  which  must  technically  have  been  well  able  to 
cope  with  the  natural  representation  of  landscape  ever  since  the  time  of 
Agatharchos,  could  now  apply  itself  to  this  task  under  favourable  conditions, 
and  as  a  pictorial  end  in  itself  We  have  evidence  that  this  actually  happened. 
Vitruvius  states  that  among  the  ancients  (and  under  this  name  he  includes  the 
Hellenistic  Greeks  of  the  age  following  Alexander)  an  important  part  in  the 
art  of  decorative  wall-painting  was  played  by  the  representation  of  natural 
scenes,  as  harbours,  promontories,  coasts,  rivers,  wells,  straits,  temples,  hedges, 
mountains,  flocks  and  herdsmen,  and  also  "  wanderings  of  Ulysses  with  land- 
scape backgrounds,"  that  is  to  say,  scenes  taken  from  the  Odyssey  of  Homer. 

K 


66  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

Expressions  are  also  used  of  several  artists  of  this  period  —  as  of 
Demetrios,  an  Alexandrian  who  worked  at  Rome  between  B.C.  i8o  and  150, 
and  Serapion,  who  worked  there  about  fifty  years  later — which  makes  it 
probable  that  these  artists,  who  painted  no  figures,  did  paint  landscapes  as 
well  as  other  scenic  representations.  No  doubt  this  kind  of  work,  which  we 
shall  meet  with  frequently  in  our  study  of  existing  wall-paintings,  was  never 
carried  as  far  as  by  the  moderns  ;  indeed  it  seems  to  have  scarcely  got  beyond 
the  superficial  character  of  decorative  work. 

The  artists  last  named  were  employed,  as  we  have  said,  at  Rome,  though 
they  were  of  Hellenistic  stock.  What  more  the  ancient  writers  tell  us  of 
painting  in  Rome  is  little  enough,  but  shall  be  here  briefly  stated.^* 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that,  while  all  the  sculptors  of  note  who  worked  in 
Rome  betray  a  Greek  origin  by  their  very  names,  we  meet,  among  the  painters 
who  are  recorded  to  have  worked  there,  with  Latin  names  as  well  as  Greek. 
Painting,  which  must  have  flourished  during  a  certain  period  in  Etruria,  from 
whence  Rome  derived  her  art  before  the  influx  of  Greek  culture,  seems  from 
the  first  to  have  found  a  favourable  soil  on  the  banks  of  the  Tiber.  Not,  how- 
ever,  to  exaggerate  the  aptitude  of  Rome  for  this  art,  we  must  remember  that 
the  names  of  Roman  painters  which  come  to  the  surface  belong,  with  one 
exception,  to  a  time  when  Greek  culture  already  ruled  supreme  in  central  Italy  ; 
and  that  neither  among  the  Roman  painters  themselves,  nor  the  Greek  painters 
living  in  Rome,  were  there  any  of  such  renown  as  to  be  susceptible  of  com- 
parison with  the  Greek  masters  above  mentioned,  from  Timomachos  upwards. 
Ancient  writers  mention  a  whole  series  of  wall  and  panel  pictures  without 
so  much  as  naming  the  artists  who  painted  them  ;  and  works  of  this  class, 
executed  in  commemoration  of  historical  events,  were  obviously  more  prized 
by  the  Romans  for  their  subjects  than  for  their  artistic  merit. 

The  earliest  painters  mentioned  in  Rome  were  Greeks,  as  for  instance  the 
legendary  Ekphantos  of  Corinth,  and  in  historical  times,  Damophilos  and  Gor- 
gasos.  Of  later  Greeks  who  painted  in  Rome,  the  above-named  Demetrio^ 
and  Serapion  had  for  contemporaries  Dionysios  and  Sopolis,  known  as  the  best 
portrait-painters  in  the  city  ;  but  Laia  or  Jaia,  a  female  artist  from  Kyzikos, 
earned  higher  prices  for  portraits,  and  was  much  sought  after  because  of  the 
rapidity  and  power  of  her  work.  Besides  these,  we  have  only  to  notice  the 
Dorotheos  whom  Nero  thought  worthy  to  copy  the  Anadyomene'  of  Apelles. 

The  first  person  of  Roman  birth  mentioned  as  having  exercised  the  art 
was  a  member  of  the  illustrious  Fabia  gens,  who  from  his  profession  received 
the  name  of  Fabius  Pictor.  His  large  figure  pieces  in  the  temple  of  Salus. 
painted  in  the  year  A.U.C.  450,  were  praised  for  their  care,  freshness,  and 
simplicity.  They  are  said  to  have  possessed  the  firm  and  delicate  outline  of  the 
ancient,  in  combination  with  the  brilliant  colouring  of  the  later,  schools  of 
Greece.      The  Philistines  of  Rome  seem,  however,  to  have  looked  askance  upon 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  67 

Fabius  because  he  made  painting  his  profession.  Romans  of  noble  birth 
gave  up,  therefore,  trying  to  become  artists.  Mention  is  made  of  one  painting 
by  the  tragic  writer  Pacuvius,  who  thought  he  could  disregard  this  sentiment 
in  his  capacity  of  poet.  It  was  not  till  the  time  of  the  emperors  that  all  such 
vulgar  prejudices  disappeared.  But  we  have  little  to  record  except  the  bare 
names  of  most  of  the  Roman  painters  of  this  period  ;  as  Turpilius,  who  painted 
with  his  left  hand  ;  Titidius  Labeo,  the  ex-Praetor  and  Proconsul,  who  only  won 
contempt  with  his  small  and  amateur  performances  ;  Q.  Pedius,  who  was  put 
to  learn  painting  because  he  was  dumb,  but  who  died  in  consequence  ;  and 
Amulius,  who  is  described  as  a  serious,  severe,  and  at  the  same  time  ilourishing 
artist.  The  Roman  emperors  who  practised  the  arts  themselves  were  of  course 
the  merest  amateurs. 

There  is  only  one  Roman  painter  of  really  great  interest  ;  this  is  Ludius, 
as  we  shall  call  him  according  to  usage,  although  the  alternative  readings 
Tadius  or  Studius  perhaps  deserve  the  preference.  He  was  a  contemporary 
of  Augustus,  and  Pliny  says  of  him,  "  Ludius,  too,  who  lived  in  the  age  of 
the  divine  Augustus,  must  not  be  cheated  of  his  fame.  He  was  the  first  to 
bring  in  a  singularly  delightful  fashion  of  wall-painting  ;  villas,  colonnades, 
examples  of  landscape-gardening,  woods  and  sacred  groves,  reservoirs,  straits, 
rivers,  coasts,  all  according  to  the  heart's  desire  ;  and  amidst  them  pas- 
sengers of  all  kinds  on  foot,  in  boats,  driving  in  carriages  or  riding  on  asses 
to  visit  their  country  properties  ;  furthermore  fishermen,  bird-catchers,  hunters, 
vintagers  ;  or,  again,  he  exhibits  stately  villas,  to  which  the  approach  is  through 
a  swamp,  with  men  staggering  under  the  weight  of  the  frightened  women  whom 
they  have  bargained  to  carry  on  their  shoulders  ;  and  many  another  excellent 
and  entertaining  device  of  the  same  kind.  The  same  artist  also  set  the  fashion 
of  painting  views,  and  that  wonderfully  cheap,  of  seaside  towns  in  broad  day- 
light." We  may  take  it  as  certain  that  Pliny  was  mistaken  in  thinking  that  Ludius 
was  the  Jirs/  to  paint  this  kind  of  subject.  We  have  already  seen  that,  accord- 
ing to  Vitruvius  (a  much  older  writer),  "  the  ancients  "  had  treated  subjects 
exactly  similar.  That  for  which  we  may  clearh-  give  credit  to  Ludius  is  for 
having  taken  a  leading  part  in  introducing,  or  at  least  in  rc\i\ing,  this  st)-lc  of 
painting  in  Rome,  and  he  may  also  have  been  the  actual  inventor  of  some  of 
those  motives  in  landscape  decoration  which  Pliny  mentions  but  Vitruvius  does 
not, — such  as  the  villa  scenes  with  humorous  incidents,  and  the  garden  views,  of 
which  great  numbers  have  been  in  fact  discovered  upon  ancient  walls  in  Rome 
and  Pompeii.  Ludius  is  probably  the  only  painter  celebrated  b\'  the  ancient 
writers,  an  example  of  wliosc  handiwork  actual!)-  exists.  This  is  the  famous 
wall-painting  of  Prima  Porta  in  Rome,  representing  the  entire  plan  of  a  garden 
on  all  the  four  walls  of  a  room.  Now,  as  this  kind  of  garden  piece  is  emphatic- 
ally attributed  to  Ludius  by  riin\', — as,  further,  the  saloon  in  cjuestion  was 
part  of  a  villa  which   belonged    U>   the    Imperial    fainil}'  in  his  time,  and    would 


68  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

doubtless  therefore  have  been  put  into  the  hands  of  the  decorator  in  most 
repute, — and  lastly,  as  the  technical  finish  of  the  work  surpasses  that  of  all  other 
existing  antique  wall-paintings, — the  opinion  advanced  by  Brunn,  that  it  is  from 
the  hand  of  Ludius  himself,  must  not  hastily  be  set  aside.  However  that  may 
be,  we  must  remember  that  the  landscapes  of  this  master  were  but  decorative 
w'ork,  the  only  half-artistic  superficiality  of  which  Pliny  practically  admits  when 
he  goes  on  to  contrast  with  the  reputation  won  by  workers  like  Ludius,  that 
of  the  true  masters  who  painted  not  on  wall,  but  on  panel  according  to  the 
wisdom  of  the  ancients. 

We  hear  of  no  famous  painters  more  in  the  late  time  of  the  Empire.  The 
creative  power  of  art  was  declining  throughout  the  Greco-Roman  world.  Never- 
theless, we  find  detailed  descriptions  of  paintings  among  the  works  of  the 
rhetoricians  of  the  Empire  much  oftener  than  in  earlier  writers.  So  far  as  these 
descriptions  concern  particular  paintings  of  celebrated  old  masters,  we  have 
already  made  use  of  them  in  our  narrative.  But  most  of  the  works  described  by 
the  rhetorical  writers  are  purely  anonymous,  indeed  in  many  cases  it  is  clear 
that  the  picture  has  been  invented  by  the  man  of  letters  as  a  peg  whereon  to 
hang  his  eloquence.  The  chief  descriptions  of  paintings  belonging  to  this  age 
of  literature  are  those  which  were  published  as  separate  works  by  Philostratus 
the  elder  and  Philostratus  the  younger,  contemporaries  of  Septimius  Severus, 
Caracalla,  and  their  successors.  Some  scholars  believe  ever}'thing  described  by 
the  two  Philostrati  to  be  pure  invention,  others  hold  that  such  paintings  really 
existed,  and  bring  them  forward  categorically  to  illustrate  the  ancient  notices  of 
painters  and  their  works.^''  The  belief  of  the  present  writer  is  that  there  are  no 
grounds  for  doubting  the  real  existence  of  the  works  of  art  detailed  by  these 
writers,  or  at  least  of  the  picture  gallery  at  Naples  described  b}'  Philostratus  the 
elder.  But  I  think  it  impossible  to  trace,  in  the  anonymous  works  composing  the 
galleries  of  which  we  read  in  these  pages,  copies  of  those  masterpieces  by  great 
artists  of  which  the  bare  names  are  elsewhere  recorded,  least  of  all,  of  masterpieces 
of  the  schools  before  Alexander,  We  must,  on  the  whole,  take  the  descriptions 
of  Philostratus  merely  as  interesting  evidences  of  the  condition  of  Greco-Roman 
painting  in  the  late  age  in  which  they  were  written.  They  contain,  indeed,  many 
indications  of  a  decline  in  the  art.  The  subjects  include  some  of  nearly  all 
classes  with  which  we  have  above  made  ourselves  acquainted.  But  the  softer,  the 
amorous  elements  tend  to  predominate,  and  landscape  backgrounds,  or  subjects 
which  are  no  more  than  mere  incidents  in  a  landscape,  play  a  greater  part  than 
we  can  suppose  to  have  been  the  case  in  the  true  classical  painting  of  the 
Greeks.  Be  this  as  it  ma)',  the  study  of  these  descriptions — a  study  which 
attracted  Goethe,  but  upon  which  we  must  not  here  enter  in  detail — will  always 
be  fruitful  towards  our  understanding  of  the  painting  of  the  ancients. 

If  the  above  is  the  general  view  of  the  development   and   characteristics  of 
Greek  and   Roman  painting  which  we  derive  from  a  consideration  of  written 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  69 

notices  alone,  how  much  will  that  view  gain  in  clearness  and  completeness  by  a 
stud}-  of  the  actual  works  which  still  exist.  These  we  shall  consider  in  the 
next  chapter.  But,  as  has  been  said  before,  we  must  be  cautious  how  wc  use 
them  for  reconstructing  to  the  mind's  eye  individual  masterpieces  of  renown, 
since  our  remains  one  and  all  belong  not  to  the  highest  sphere  of  art,  but  to 
the  sphere  of  daily  handicraft  ;  and  since,  moreover,  even  those  which  seem  at 
first  sight  the  most  important  have  all  been  found  on  Italian  soil,  and  the 
great  majoritx'  at  least  belong  to  an  age  of  decadence.  Finally,  the  limits  of 
our  survey  must  be  kept  in  proportion  to  the  space  at  our  command,  as  well  as 
to  the  relative  importance  of  the  material  in  a  general  Histor}-  of  Painting. 


CHAPTER  III. 

EXISTING  REMAINS — VASE  PAINTINGS. 

Figured  vases  ;  their  place  in  ancient  sepulchral  furniture — Their  number,  origin,  and  forms — Earliest  or  so- 
called  Pelasgic  ware — Orientalising  ware — Introduction  of  human  figures  ;  the  Dodwell  vase — The 
Fran(^ois  vase — The  regular  archaic  or  black-figured  style — Characters  of  this  ware:  the  "strong"  style 
— Question  between  true  archaic  and  pseudo-archaic  examples — Subjects  represented  on  vases  of  this 
class — Black-figured  gradually  superseded  by  red-figured  ware — Development  of  the  red-figured  style 
from  severity  to  decline — Question  whether  red-figured  vases  were  originally  polychrome — Technical 
process  of  vase-painting  in  this  style — Relation  of  the  designs  to  the  works  of  contemporary  painting — 
Subjects  of  the  designs — Athenian  funeral  vases  painted  in  colours  on  a  white  ground — Post- Alexandrian 
vases;  the  ''rich"  or  "Apulian"  style  in  Lower  Italy  —  Subjects  and  character  of  Apulian  vases — 
Extinction  of  the  art  of  vase-painting. 

By  a  touching  instinct  of  piety,  the  ancients  loved  to  make  the  tombs  of  their 
dead  into  copies,  as  comfortable  as  possible,  of  the  dwellings  of  the  living. 
Hence  the  custom  of  laying  beside  departed  friends  in  their  graves  the  weapons, 
clothes,  ornaments,  and  utensils  that  had  belonged  to  them  in  life.  Among 
such  sepulchral  furniture,  vases  of  painted  earthenware  have  been  brought  to 
light  in  great  numbers  in  many  parts  of  Greece  and  Italy.  The  designs  figured 
on  such  vases  are  among  the  most  important  of  our  materials  for  the  history 
of  ancient  art,  more  especially  of  painting,  though  it  must  always  be  borne  in 
mind  that  they  are  works,  not  of  high  art,  but  only  of  comparatively  humble 
decorative  industr}'.^^ 

The  number  of  such  figured  vases,  of  all  sizes  and  shapes,  which  are  by  this 
time  distributed  among  the  various  museums  of  Europe,  may  be  reckoned  as 
twenty  thousand  at  least,  and  this  number  implies  a  corresponding  variety  in 
the  subjects  of  mythology  and  daily  life  which  adorn  them.  The  importance 
of  vase-painting  depends,  indeed,  partly  on  this  very  variety  of  subject,  partly 
on  the  fact  that  the  examples  preserved  enable  us  to  follow  the  development 
of  the  art,  in  an  almost  unbroken  chronological  order,  through  its  several 
stages  from  prae-Homeric  days  down  to  its  expiration  in  the  second  century 
before  Christ. 

The  forms  of  these  vases,  the  style  and  subjects  of  their  painted  decora- 
tions, still  more  the  inscriptions  which  occur  on  many  of  them,  leave  no  doubt 
as  to  their  Hellenic  origin  —  an  origin  which  is  moreover  confirmed  in  great 
part  by  the  sites  where  they  have  been  found.  Vast  quantities  have,  indeed, 
come  to  light  in  Etruria,  and  a  few  in  other  non-Hellenic  districts  ;  but  of 
those  excavated   in    Etruria,  the   majority  are  identical  in  character  with  others 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  71 

found  in  Greece  itself,  and  were  evidently  imported  thence  ;  while  a  smaller 
class  bespeak  not  less  evidently  the  attempts  of  native  Etruscan  industries  to 
enter  into  competition  with  Greek.  The  examples  of  such  competition  which 
have  come  down  to  us  are  neither  rare  nor  hard  to  recognise,  and  the)-  prove 
that  the  result  of  the  experiment  was  not  happy.  We  can  only  concern  our- 
selves here  with  the  vase-paintings, — and  thc)-  are  in  truth  a  vast  majority 
among  the  whole, — which  were  really  executed  in  Greek  workshops. 

The  lover  of  art  takes  as  much  delight  in  the  forms  of  these  vases  as  in 
their  painted  decorations  ;  indeed  the  decoration  is  always  so  strictly  adapted 
to  the  form  that  it  cannot  be  properly  understood,  at  least  so  far  as  concerns 
its  system  of  border  lines  and  distribution  on  the  curved  surface,  except  in  con- 
nection with  laws  of  constructional  form.  In  this  place  we  can  hardly  dwell 
on  such  questions  of  technical  principle,  but  have  rather  to  do  with  the  figured 
designs  on  the  vases  simply  as  such. 

It  is  only  within  the  last  few  years  that  a  certain  kind  of  ware  has  been 
recognised  as  the  most  ancient  of  all,  and  ascribed  to  the  so-called  Pelasgic, 
prse-Hellenic,  or  prae-Homeric  period,  a  period  as  yet  untouched  by  oriental 
influences.^"  Ware  of  this  kind  has  been  found  at  many  sites  of  the  ancient 
Greek  world,  and  chiefly  in  the  tombs  of  Attica.  The  colour  of  the  clay 
is  a  light  reddish'  yellow,  and  the  paintings  on  it  of  a  uniform  dark  brown. 
Figures  of  any  kind,  when  they  occur  at  all,  are  entirely  subordinate  to 
ornament  ;  but  the  vases  of  this  period  arc  in  fact  commonly  quite  covered 
with  simple  rows  of  geometrical  patterns  and  abstract  linear  arrangements 
of  the  kind  which  seem  to  be  the  common  property  of  all  primitive  races,  as 
zigzags,  chequers,  circles,  dots,  and  so  forth.  Occasionally  this  symmetrically 
disposed  network  of  merely  linear  ornament  leaves  spaces  or  bands  free 
for  the  introduction  of  figures  or  animals.  None  but  domestic  animals  and 
European  game  occur  ;  the  panther  and  lion  of  the  East  have  not  yet  made 
their  appearance.  Among  human  subjects  mythology  finds  no  place,  but  only 
scenes  from  real  life,  as  processions,  funerals,  sea-fights,  reflecting  the  primitive 
manners  and  customs  of  these  coast  populations.  Everything  is  simply  treated 
in  silhouette,  or  indeed  in  a  style  which  can  hardly  be  dignified  with  the  name 
of  silhouette,  so  childish  and  rude  seem  these  primitive  attempts  of  Greek 
painting  (Fig.  10).  It  must  not,  however,  be  taken  for  granted  that  all  vases 
in  this  style  really  date  from  the  times  which  we  call  pra^-Homeric.  It  is  the 
style  it.self  which  in  its  first  inception  we  attribute  to  this  period,  and  not 
each  particular  example  ;  since  the  productions  of  evcr}--day  handicraft  may 
cling  for  centuries  to  a  traditional  system  of  decoration,  while  the  works  of 
serious  art  have  changed  their  character  with  the  progress  of  the  times. 

If  the  vases  of  which  we  have  just  spoken  may  be  ascribed  to  a  prae- 
Homeric  age,  those  of  the  second  period  may  be  regarded  as  belonging  to  about 
the  supposed  age  of  Homer.      They  are  easily  distinguished   from  the  first,  in 


72 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


contrast  with  which  they  exhibit,  as  is  proved  by  a  direct  comparison  with 
examples  of  Assyrio-Babylonian  ware,  unmistakable  marks  of  Oriental  influence. 
In  this  class  also  the  decorations  encircle  the  vase  in  tiers  or  bands  ;  but  the 
designs  now  employed  belong  almost  exclusively  to  the  order  of  conventionally 
treated  animal  or  vegetable  forms.  The  animals  are  arranged  in  rows  as  in  a 
frieze,  and  the  Asiatic  lion  and  tiger,  with  fantastic  sphinxes,  griffins,  and 
sirens,  fill  almost  as  conspicuous  a  place  as  stags,  goats,  swans,  and  other 
domestic  creatures.  The  vegetable  forms,  which  occur  interchangeably  with 
these  regular  rows  of  conventionalised  animals,  are  turned  in  like  manner  into 
formal  patterns.     Thus  the  palm  tree  becomes  the  palmetto  ornament,  as  we  see 


Fig.  lo. 


it  also  in  Persian  reliefs  ;  a  flower  cup,  looked  at  from  above,  takes  the  shape  of 
a  rosette,  and  from  one  side,  that  of  a  fantastic  floral  pattern.  The  empty 
spaces  in  the  animal  friezes  are  filled  in  according  to  fancy  with  rosettes  and 
crosses.  The  decorative  workman  in  this  style  has  a  positive  horror  of  empty 
spaces.  The  whole  vase  must  be  evenly  studded  with  ornaments  painted  in 
dark  brown,  broken  occasionally  with  white  and  violet,  and  relieved  on  the  light 
yellow  ground  of  the  clay.      The  total  effect  is  generally  harmonious. 

Human  figures  scarcely  appear  on  the  vases  which  belong  in  strictness  to 
this  Orientalising  class,  but  begin  to  make  their  appearance  on  examples  of  a 
somewhat  later  kind,  which  mark  a  transition  from  this  to  a  more  developed 
style  of  art.  The  most  characteristic  example  of  such  transitional  work  is  the 
famous  Dodwell  vase  of  the  Munich  collection,  of  which  the  body,  it  is  true, 
only  bears  rows  of  animals  in  the  Oriental  style  above  described,  but  the  cover 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  73 

is  adorned  with  a  hunting  scene,  and  even  shows  inscriptions  in  a  very  ancient 
form  of  alphabet  (Fig.  i  i).  The  manufacture,  it  is  plain,  did  not  stand  still 
between  those  most  primitive  periods  of  all,  with  their  strongly-marked  charac- 
teristics, and  the  much  later  ages  to  which  belong  the  great  mass  of  vases  in 
our  collections,  whether  painted  with  black  figures  on  red,  or  with  red  figures 
on  black.  At  various  sites,  specimens  have  been  found  which  evidently  date 
from  one  period  or  another,  though  from  which  cannot  be  exactly  determined, 
within  this  long  interval.  The  transition  was  a  gradual  one,  and  it  would  carry 
us  too  far  to  attempt  here  to  trace  it  in  detail. ^^ 

To  the  subsequent  development  of  the  art  belong  those  numberless  vases 
which  lead  us  down  from  about  the  time  of  the  Persian  wars  to  about  the  time 
of  Alexander  the  Great.  These  are  painted  at  first  with  black  figures  on  a 
red  ground,  and  subsequently  with  red  figures  on  a  black  ground. 


Fig.  II. 

The  normal  manner  of  the  black-figured  period  is  preceded  by  examples 
of  a  still  severer  archaism.  This  phase  is  represented  at  its  richest  in  the 
splendid  vase  which  is  known  as  the  Francois  vase,  after  its  finder  and  first 
possessor,  and  is  now  the  gem  of  the  Florence  collection.  The  multitu- 
dinous figure  subjects,  which  make  of  this  vase  a  complete  picture-book  of  epic 
mythology,  are  here  again  arranged  in  horizontal  tiers.  The  principal  subject 
on  one  of  the  centre  bands  is  the  procession  of  the  gods  to  the  marriage  of  the 
sea-goddess  Thetis  with  Peleus.  On  the  neck  are  depicted  the  chariot-races 
ordained  by  Achilles  at  the  funeral  games  in  honour  of  his  friend  Patroklos. 
The  personages  are  everywhere  identified  by  careful  inscriptions,  which  in  this 
style  take  the  place  of  the  rosettes  and  stars  of  the  Oriental  style  in  helping  to 
fill  and  decorate  the  field.  The  general  effect  of  the  vase  as  a  piece  of  decora- 
tive workmanship  is  good,  but  taken  in  detail  the  style  of  painting  is  still 
very  uncouth  ;  the  actions  sometimes  too  vehement  and  sometimes  too  stiff; 
and  as  a  matter  of  course  all  the  deficiencies  a.ssert  themselves  here  which  we 
shall  indicate  more  particularly  in  speaking  of  the  next,  the  regular  black-figured 
class  of  ware.    But  in  the  faithful  and  careful  execution  of  the  whole,  we  recognise 

L 


74  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

the  signs  of  a  keen  artistic  feeling.  The  makers  have  thought  it  worth  while 
to  put  their  names  to  the  work,  and  the  potter  who  fashioned  the  vase  signs  him- 
self Ergotimos,  the  painter  who  decorated  it,  Kleitias.  The  form  of  letters  used 
in  the  inscriptions  belongs  to  the  alphabet  which  became  obsolete  in  the  8oth 
Olympiad.      The  workmanship  cannot  be  assigned  to  a  later  date  than  B.C.  500. 

Next  in  order  come  the  black-figured  vases  of  the  archaic,  early  rigid,  or, . 
as  it  is  sometimes  called  in  English,  the  strong  style.  (It  would  be  more 
correct  to  speak  of  this  as  the  "  oligochrome "  than  as  the  "  black-figured " 
style,  since  in  fact  it  employs  several  colours,  though  few.)  The  vases  of  this 
style  (except  so  far  as  they  may  be  products  of  later  imitative  work)  were 
manufactured  from  about  B.C.  500  till  towards  the  days  of  the  Peloponnesian 
war,  then  to  give  place  in  their  turn  to  the  almost  exclusive  prevalence  of  the 
red-figured  style.  They  are  in  part,  therefore,  contemporary  with  the  work  of 
the  great  painters  Polygnotos,  Mikon,  and  their  group,  but  according  to  the 
natural  tendency  of  a  mere  ornamental  industry  to  lag  behind  the  progress  of 
the  higher  forms  of  art,  it  was  a  long  w^iile  before  the  vase-painters  turned 
to  account  the  conquests  achieved  by  those  famous  masters.  Inscriptions 
bearing  the  names  of  the  painters  are  found  on  many  vases  of  this  style. 
Among  those  of  most  esteem  we  may  reckon  Exekias,  Amasis,  Xenokles, 

In  point  of  technical  skill,  the  black-figured  vases  which  belong  to  the 
genuine  archaic  style  are  very  perfect  examples  of  the  potter's  art.  The 
natural  pale  tint  of  the  clay  is  heightened  by  painting  to  a  lively  yellowish  red, 
upon  which  the  deep  black  colour  and  lustrous  varnish  employed  for  the 
figured  decorations  throw  themselves  up  in  vigorous  relief  The  painter  was 
accustomed  to  incise  the  outlines  of  his  figures  on  the  clay  ground  with  a  sharp 
tool  ;  having  next  filled  in  with  black  the  outlines  thus  traced,  he  would  again 
incise  with  a  pointed  instrument  the  inner  lines  and  markings  of  the  figure, 
which  naturally  had  to  show  white  upon  the  black  (Fig.  1 2).  But  the  artist 
was  by  no  means  satisfied  with  this  effect  alone.  Attempts  were  made  to 
compass  variety  of  colour,  although  such  attempts  did  not — and  indeed  could 
not  so  long  as  black  was  the  prevailing  colour  of  the  design — get  beyond  a 
very  limited  and  conventional  scale.  The  additional  colours  used  were  white 
and  a  dark  red.  The  naked  parts  of  the  female  figures  were  painted  white, 
whereby  they  were  at  once  distinguished  from  the  invariably  black  figures  of 
the  male  personages.  Horses  were  either  white  or  black  ;  fruit  upon  the  tree 
was  painted  white  ;  red  served  to  define  clearly  all  manner  of  details,  such  as 
hair,  crests  of  helmets,  manes,  the  variegated  pattern  or  border  on  a  garment, 
and  so  forth. 

Nor  was  the  difference  between  black  and  white  the  only  means  adopted 
to  distinguish  male  from  female  personages.  A  conventional  difference  was 
adopted  in  the  treatment  of  the  eyes  ;  those  of  men  being  drawn  round,  with 
two  little  strokes  at  the  sides,  and  those  of  women  long  and  almond-shaped,  and 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY. 


75 


set  as  if  seen  in  front,  although  the  face  was  drawn  in  profile.  Attempts  made 
to  give  a  front  view  of  the  whole  face  generally  failed.  Under  such  conditions 
anything  like  expression  or  pla\-  of  feature  was  still,  of  course,  out  of  the 
question.  The  cast  of  draper)-,  too,  is  still  quite  undeveloped  ;  garments, 
for  the  most  part,  hang  straight  like  sacks,  or  cling  smoothly  to  the  outlines  of 
the  figure  ;  the  plan  of  rigid  symmetrical  folds  was  not  adopted  until  the  early 
days  of  the  next  or  red-figured  style  in  vase-painting. 


Fig.  12. 

Moreover,  the  conception  of  the  nude  is  in  the  work  of  this  period  more  or 
less  conventional.  The  body  is  on  the  whole  meagre,  often  to  such  a  point 
that  the  abdomen  disappears  ;  on  the  other  hand  the  shoulders,  hips,  and 
thighs  project  powerfully.  To  this  conception  of  form  corresponds  a  kindred 
conception  of  action.  In  motives  expressive  of  repose  the  design  seems  rigid 
and  uncouth,  in  those  expressive  of  action  harsh  and  violent. 

The  compositions  on  these  vases  have  more  freedom  than  those  on  the 
very  earliest  kinds,  but  they  are  still  treated  in  the  spirit  of  relief  or  silhouette, 
and  are  as  far  as  possible  from  being  pictorial.  So  little  trace  do  they  show 
of  any  attempt  at  natural  and  definite  background,  such  as  had  been  intro- 
duced in  the  art  of  the  regular  painters  on  wood  since  Apollodoros,  that  all 
local  features  are  reduced  to  mere  symbolic  indications.  The  groups  are  very 
simple,  and  similar  motives  are  repeated  to  represent  different  subjects.  The 
majority  of  the  vase-paintings  of  this  period  represent  an  art  which  has  not 
yet  reached  the  standard,  or  turned  to  account  the  improvements,  of  Kimon  of 
Kleonai,  but  has  stopped  about  the  point  which  we  may  suppose  to  have  been 
attained  by  Eumaros   (see  above,  p.  39).      I'or  the  rest,  it  must   be  noted  that 


76  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

we  find  within  this  class  work  of  very  various  degrees  of  excellence.  The  best 
examples,  with  all  their  awkwardnesses,  exhibit  a  certain  freshness  and  direct- 
ness of  conception,  a  loving  solicitude  in  the  execution,  and  a  thoughtful 
observation  of  life.  The  worst  are  mere  daubings,  and  daubings  of  the  most 
crude  and  careless  kind. 

In  this  connection  we  must  not  leave  quite  unnoticed  an  important  but  difficult 
question  which  has  been  lately  raised.  It  used  always  to  be  assumed  as  self- 
evident  that  the  great  majority  of  the  vases  of  the  severe  style  with  black 
figures  were  original  works  of  the  fifth  century  B.C.,  and  only  a  few  were 
supposed  to  betray  the  intentional  imitation  of  the  early  style  by  the  workmen 
of  a  much  later  period.  But  a  great  authority.  Professor  Brunn,  has  recently 
endeavoured  to  prove  that  the  real  proportion  which  subsists  between  the 
genuine  and  the  imitative  work  in  this  style  is  the  reverse  of  that  hitherto 
supposed.  In  his  view  the  great  majority  of  such  vases  discovered  in  Etruria 
are  not  genuine  works  of  the  fifth  century  at  all,  but  imitations  fabricated  for 
the  express  purpose  of  exportation  in  the  second  and  third  centuries  B.C. 
Etruria,  however,  is  in  fact  the  region  where  the  great  majority  of  all  the  vases 
of  this  style  have  been  excavated.  At  the  same  time,  even  the  best  that  have 
been  found  there  show  a  great  inferiority  to  some  of  the  same  style  discovered 
at  Athens  itself;  and  Professor  Brunn  has  supported  his  views  with  so  many 
arguments  drawn  from  style,  palaeography,  and  history,  that  they  may  well  gain 
an  increasing  number  of  adherents. 

If  now  we  consider  the  subjects  which  are  represented  on  vases  of  this  class, 
and  which,  even  if  we  follow .  Brunn's  view,  we  must  suppose  the  imitators  of 
the  archaic  style  to  have  adopted,  along  with  their  general  principles  of  design, 
from  the  genuine  works  of  that  style — if  now  we  consider  these,  we  cannot  fail 
to  be  astonished  at  their  richness  and  multiplicity.  Their  range  embraces 
nearly  the  whole  spiritual  and  physical  life  of  Hellas.  At  the  same  time,  it  is 
easy  to  detect  a  preference  for  certain  special  themes  over  others.  Among  gods, 
Dionysos  is  most  frequently  represented,  either  marching  with  his  frenzied  train, 
or  reposing  beneath  a  bower  of  vines  (in  this  kind  of  Dionysiac  vase,  let  us 
observe  by  the  way,  it  is  common  to  find  branches  laden  with  grapes  or  other 
fruits  so  trailed  over  the  field  as  to  fill  up  all  vacant  spaces).  Among  heroes, 
the  chief  part  belongs  to  Herakles.  At  the  same  time  vases  of  this  kind,  on 
the  one  part,  both  set  before  us  often  enough  representations  of  the  other 
Olympian  gods,  sometimes  in  relations  which  we  can  hardly  explain  from 
want  of  acquaintance  with  particular  forms  of  worship,  and,  on  the  other, 
furnish  a  complete  mirror  of  the  heroic  world  of  Greece  as  that  world  had 
been  bodied  forth  in  epic  poetry.  And  the  plain  narrative  character  which 
belongs  to  the  epic  style  is  always  preserved  in  these  pictures.  Finally,  other 
vases  of  this  period  exhibit  the  daily  life  of  the  Greeks,  now  in  its  earnestness 
and  discipline,  now  in  its  joyousness  and  abandonment.      The  gymnastic  exer- 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY. 


77 


cises  of  youth,  games  and  contests  of  all  kinds,  and  anon  also  marriages, 
feastings,  jovial  drinking-parties,  groups  of  men  hunting,  groups  of  women  at 
the  toilet  or  the  bath,  musical  exercises  of  the  young,  and  so  forth — all  these 
we  find  depicted.  In  a  word,  these  wares  are  the  product  of  a  time  and  of 
circumstances  when  a  flourishing  school  of  painting  occupied  itself  with  all 
that  can  offer  an  artistic  interest  to  man  ;  and  of  that  school  the  vase-painters 
have  handed  us  down  a  humble  reflection. 

After  the  class  of  vases  in  which  black  is  the  prevailing  colour  of  the  figures, 
there  follows,  still  as   the  product  of  the  same   school  of  design  which  we   are 


Fig-  13- 

discussing, the  other  and  more  numerous  class  in  u  hich  the  entire  ground  is  painted 
black,  while  the  figures,  for  which  space  has  been  reserved  in  laying  this  ground, 
present  themselves  wholly  in  the  natural  red  colour  of  the  clay,  with  their  inner 
markings  drawn  in  black  lines  (Fig.  i  3).  This  style,  however,  does  not  suddenly 
supersede  the  earlier  one.  There  was  a  period  when  vases  of  both  kinds  were 
made  together  ;  in  fact  thore  exist  specimens  decorated  on  one  side  with  red 
figures  on  a  black  ground  and  on  the  other  side  with  black  figures  on  a  red 
ground.  It  has,  indeed,  been  proved  that  the  later  or  red-figured  style  had  been 
introduced  in  fictile  art  as  early  as  the  Persian  wars.  But  it  was  only  after  the 
beginning  of  the  Pcloi)onnesian  war  that  the  red-figured  manufacture  entirely 
superseded  that  with  black  figures,  which  remained  in  abeyance  until  a  deliber- 
ate revival  undertook  to  su])piy  wares  in  imitation  of  the  older  st\-Ic  to  suit  the 


78 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


taste  of  foreign  customers.  Among  the  potters  whose  vases  we  find  decorated 
sometimes  with  red  and  sometimes  with  black  figures,  we  may  quote  the  names 
of  Nikosthenes  and  Panphios,  and  as  leading  manufacturers  of  the  red-figured 
kind  alone,  those  of  Duris,  Epiktetos,  and  Euphroneos. 

These   red-figured   vases    afford    us    examples    of   a    progress   from   archaic 
rigidity  through    all    stages  of    the    development    of    the    Hellenic  and    Hel- 


Fig.  14. 


lenistic  styles  of  design.  The  earliest  exhibit  a  thoroughly  harsh  and  rigid 
style  of  drawing,  a  stiff  formality  in  the  cast  of  drapery,  a  conventional 
treatment  of  the  hair,  and  that  forced  and  strained  vehemence  of  action  which 
bespeaks  the  effort  after  a  freedom  not  yet  attained.  Gradually,  however, 
the  style  advances  towards  real  freedom,  acquiring  more  life  and  at  the 
same  time  more  repose.  The  faces  gain  expression,  the  draperies  a  noble  flow, 
the  bodies  beautiful  proportions,  the  movements  a  harmonious  rhythm.  The 
artist  succeeds  in  representing  heads  and  limbs  correctly  from  the  most  varied 
points  of  view,  and  with  foreshortenings  that  grow  bolder  as  time  goes  on. 
For  a  while  also  there  reigns  along  w^ith  these  improvements  that  solemn 
earnestness  of  conception  which  is  the  special  mark  of  the  highest  style.  Vases 
of  this   kind    are  calculated   to  give  us   an   idea  of  the   manner  of  Polygnotos. 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  79 

By  and  by  there  appears  an  element  of  increased  grace  and  freedom,  and  we 
find  vase  pictures  which  belong  in  every  respect  to  the  most  complete  and 
beautiful  examples  of  design  which  have  been  produced  under  the  conditions 
proper  to  this  art  (Fig.  14).  At  last,  in  the  course  of  the  fourth  century  B.C., 
freedom  degenerates  into  a  pursuit  of  effects  attractive  rather  than  dignified. 
Charm,  however,  with  purity  of  form,  continues  long  to  attend  upon  this  style, 
which  only  begins  after  the  age  of  Alexander  to  exhibit  those  negligences 
which  are  the  symptoms  of  decline. 

It  is  true  that  the  greater  part  of  those  red-figured  vases  of  the  early  or  strong 
st}-le,  which  have  been  found  not  in  Greece  itself  but  in  Etruria,  bear  marks 
of  carelessness  not  easy  to  account  for  in  the  work  of  the  early  period.  Mence 
Brunn's  supposition  that  they  are  not  really  original  works  of  the  fifth  centur\', 
but  deliberate  repetitions  of  the  style  of  that  century,  fabricated  in  a  later  age  ; 
a  supposition  which  is  naturally  supported  by  the  same  arguments  which  apply 
to  vases  of  the  black-figured  class. 

With  reference  to  the  vases  with  red  figures,  another  question  of  much 
importance  has  lately  been  raised.^^  It  has  been  contended  that  the  pictures 
which  now  appear  in  the  red  colour  of  the  clay  on  a  black  ground  \\ere  all 
originally  painted  with  a  diversity  of  hues,  and  that  pigments,  of  which 
traces  are  still  here  and  there  to  be  found  in  greater  or  less  quantity,  have  in 
the  course  of  time  either  flaked  off  or  otherwise  disappeared  from  the  surface 
of  the  great  majority  of  vases  of  this  class.  Evidently  this  view,  if  it  could  be 
established,  would  completely  alter  our  idea  of  the  aspect  originalh'  borne  by 
this  kind  of  ware  ;  but  the  theory  is  one  which  will  hardly  find  accepiance  to 
the  extent  which  it  claims.  What  is  really  certain  is,  that  in  the  time  of  the 
free  development  of  the  art,  the  Greeks  did  paint  a  certain  order  of  vases  in 
diverse  colours  on  the  black  ground.  Sometimes  a  rich  gilding  was  added  to 
heighten  their  ornamental  effect.  This  kind  of  ornamentation  with  gold  and 
colours  is  perhaps  best  preserved  on  some  vases  found  at  Kertch  and  now  in 
the  collection  at  St.  Petersburg  ;  but  these  are  by  no  means  the  only  cases  in 
which  signs  of  an  original  polychrome  treatment  arc  to  be  discerned.  It  is 
certain,  furthermore,  that  there  is  a  specific  class  of  wares  (to  which  wc  shall 
presently  return)  having  their  ground  laid  in  white  pipeclay  instead  of  the 
usual  black,  and  that  for  the  decoration  of  these  vases,  which  in  some  early 
examples  still  exhibit  figures  drawn  in  black,  a  polychrome  treatment  came 
very  soon  to  be  employed.  But,  lastly,  it  is  not  less  certain  that  the  over- 
whelming majority  of  vase-pictures  with  red  figures  on  a  black  ground  show 
no  traces  of  having  originally  been  decorated  according  to  any  complete  poh'- 
chrome  system  at  all.  The  only  variety  of  colour  is  obtained  by  the  use  of 
white  and  dark  red,  employed  in  the  same  way,  only  much  more  sparingly,  as 
upon  the  black-figured  vases  ;  but  the  majority  of  the  class  now  under  discus- 
sion, including  the   finest   examples,  fail   to  show  even   such   slight  applications 


8o  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

of  colour  as  this.  In  face  of  plain  appearances  it  is  impossible  to  regard  the 
matter  as  one  admitting  of  question. 

The  following  was  the  process  employed  in  producing  these  pictures.  The 
design  was  first  sketched  on  the  surface  of  the  still  unbaked  vessel  ;  the  inner 
markings,  lines,  and  hatchings,  being  put  in  with  a  pen,  the  masses  of  dark,  in 
hair,  ornaments,  and  so  forth,  with  a  brush.  Next,  all  the  spaces  between  the 
figures  were  filled  in  with  black,  which  the  painter  laid  on  with  a  full  brush, 
working  from  the  outlines  of  the  figures  outwards.  It  is  next  these  outlines 
that  the  colour  lies  thickest.  Where  black  hair  or  other  masses  of  dark  form 
part  of  the  design  of  the  figures,  it  was  necessary  to  leave  a  margin  of  the 
colour  of  the  clay  in  order  to  detach  such  masses  from  the  black  of  the  ground. 
After  all  this  came  the  firing. 

We  have  said  that  the  red-figured  vases  of  the  style  which  combines 
severity  with  beauty  may  be  supposed  to  give  us  an  idea  of  the  manner  and 
design  of  Polygnotos.  From  this  point  onwards  the  art  of  vase-painting  ceases 
to  exhibit  a  progress  parallel  with  the  progress  of  the  higher  order  of  painting. 
Apollodoros  had  already  painted  pictures  with  determinate  backgrounds,  and 
had  been  followed  and  surpassed  by  Zeuxis  and  Parrhasios.  But  vase-painting 
never  adopted  this  reform.  Its  pre-occupation  at  this  particular  period  was 
rather  the  pursuit  of  an  extreme  simplicity,  inasmuch  as  the  finest  of  the  red 
figures  often  detach  themselves  in  complete  isolation,  almost  as  if  floating  in  air, 
from  the  plain  black  ground  which  covers  the  body  of  the  vase. 

There  is  no  essential  difference  between  the  range  of  subjects  illustrated  in 
the  paintings  of  the  red-figured  vases  down  to  the  days  of  Alexander,  and  that 
which  had  prevailed  in  those  with  black  figures  ;  there  is  only  an  increasing 
richness  and  multifariousness.  All  the  conceptions  of  mythology  were  turned 
to  account,  and  latterly  sometimes  in  versions  to  which  tragic  poetry  had  first 
given  currency.  But  historical  scenes  were  also  represented,  as,  for  instance, 
Croesus  on  the  funeral  pile,  which  we  find  on  a  beautiful  vase  of  the  severe  style 
(Fig.  I  5).  Daily  life,  too,  furnished  now  as  in  the  previous  period  an  endless 
abundance  of  motives  ;  neither  is  the  licentious  element  absent.  But  in  the 
finest  examples  the  endeavour  of  the  artist  has  been  to  compass  charm  through 
simplicity  ;  the  design  consists  often  of  no  more  than  a  single  figu'-e  or  a 
pair  of  figures,  and  the  ornamental  borders  and  patterns  are  also  much  simplified 
in  comparison  with  those  of  earlier  periods. 

A  special  class  of  Athenian  vases  of  this  period  consists  of  those  painted 
in  various  colours  on  a  white  ground.  Most  of  them  are  in  the  shape  of 
lekythi  (XrjKvdoi)  or  slender  oil  jars  ;  they  are  very  various  in  size,  and  have 
been  found  principally  in  tombs  at  Athens.  These  white  Athenian  lek\thi 
seem  to  have  been  manufactured  especially  for  the  service  of  the  dead,  since 
the  subjects  depicted  on  them  refer  exclusively  to  death.  Most  commonly 
the\^  show  the  stele,  or  memorial   column  of  the  dead,  beside  a  mound  which  is 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY. 


8i 


often  overgrown  with  brushwood,  and  the  kindred  of  the  deceased  adorning 
the  column  from  either  hand  with  garlands.  But  often  too  Charon,  the  ferry- 
man of  the  under  world,  is  depicted  with  his  boat,  in  which  case  the  water  and 
the  rushes  are  added  as  well.      Generally  speaking,  the  style  of  design  is  more 


Fig.  15. 

pictorial  in  this  than  in  other  classes  of  vase-painting,  and  shows  more  decidedly 
the  influence  of  the  higher  art  of  the  time  ;  characteristics  to  which  the  white 
ground  would  naturally  be  more  favourable  than  the  black.  Nevertheless  in 
this  style,  too,  the  outlines  have  been  drawn  with  the  pen  before  they  were 
filled  in  with  colours.  But  in  the  colours  themselves  there  is  considerable 
varict)'.  It  is  sometimes  said  that  blue  occurs  less  commonly  than  red,  but 
that  is  only  because   the   red    i)ignicnt   possesses   the    quality  of  incorporating 

M 


82 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


itself  with  the  prepared  ground  of  the   clay  more  firmly  and  therefore  more 
lastingly  than  the  blue. 

After  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great,  the  whole  civilisation,  and  with  the 
civilisation  the  art,  of  Greece  took  another  direction.  The  great  days  of 
Athens  had  gone  by.  The  work  of  the  Athenian  vase -painters  was  for  the 
future  chiefly  limited  to  copying  designs  of  an  earlier  style  for  export  to 
Etruria.      In  Lower  Italy,  on  the  other  hand,  the  art  struck  out  an  independent 


Fig.  1 6. 

career,  especially  in  Apulia ;  whence  the  general  name  "  Apulian  "  is  some- 
times given  to  the  wares  of  this  late  style,  which  is  also  known  as  the  "  rich  " 
style.  The  vases  of  this  South-Italian  manufacture  on  the  one  hand  bespeak 
clearly  the  inspirations  of  the  Hellenistic  age,  and  on  the  other  show  a  certain 
admixture  of  elements  more  distinctively  national  and  Italic.  At  the  same 
time  they  are  properly  described  as  Greek,  since  they  are  the  work  either  of 
the  Hellenic  populations  in  Lower  Italy  or  of  native  populations  Hellenised. 
The  vases  of  this  class,  of  which  the  richest  collection  is  naturally  that  in 
the  museum  at  Naples,  are  commonly  of  imposing  size,  and  covered  with  a 
very  rich  system  of  ornamentation.  The  figure  subjects  are  often  again 
arranged  in  rows  as  in  the  oldest  ware,  and  rich  wreaths  of  vegetable  ornament 
cover  the  neck  and  handles.  There  are  many  links  of  resemblance  between 
the  style  proper  to  this  new  international  Hellenism  and  the  old  Orientalising 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY. 


^3 


style;  even  the  old  habit  of  filling  empty  spaces  with  rosettes  now  recurs 
The  whole  impression  is  meant  to  be  gay  and  splendid,  but  to  us  seems  in 
most  cases  overloaded. 


Fig.  17. 


The  subjects  represented  on  these  rich  vases  are  again  connected  with  the 
service  of  the  dead  ;  but  the  memorial  structure,  which  forms  the  central  point 
of  the  picture,  is  here  seldom  a  simple  s^r/c,  but  more  commonly  a  rich  temple- 
like building  or  heroon,  around  which  the  friends  of  the  deceased  arc  intro- 
duced in  numbers  and  grouped  with  pictorial  freedom  (Fig.  1 7).  The  most 
frequent  scenes,  however,  in  this  style  are  scenes  from  heroic  legend,  and 
among  these  the  myths  in  which  most  figures  come  into  action  are  preferred. 
The  underworld  appears  under  various  aspects  ;  sometimes  the  palace  of  Hades 
and  Persephone  forms  the  central  feature  of  the  design  ;  sometimes  the  chief 
prominence  is  given  to  the  tale  of  Orpheus,  and  Herakles  leading  off  the  three- 
headed  hound  of  hell  is  seldom  absent.  Among  the  favourite  subjects  on  this 
class  of  vases  are  also  battles  of  Greeks  against  Amazons  and  Centaurs.  Of  the 
heroic  myths  properly  so-called,  this  style  treats  chiefly  those  handled  in  later 
tragedy,  especially  by  Euripides  ;  a  preference  which  is  in   direct  contrast  to 


84 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


that  of  the  old  black-figured  style,  which  drew  its  subjects  chiefly  from  epic 
poetry.  Thus  Iphigeneia,  Paris,  Kadmos,  Qiidipus,  Medea,  Pelops,  play  leading 
parts  in  the  pictures  on  the  Apulian  ware  ;  the  Judgment  of  Paris,  which  occurs 
on  vases  of  all  styles  alike,  is  also  a  common  subject  now.    A  great  predilection 


Fig.  i8. 

is  shown  for  the  personified  powers  of  nature.  Pompous  scenes  of  sunrise  set 
before  us  anthropomorphic  representations  of  natural  phenomena,  which  are 
unique  of  their  kind.  So  also  the  mythic  company  of  the  divinities  both  of 
sea  and  land  receive  rich  and  various  treatment.  Among  themes  of  mere 
humanity,  love  scenes  occur  most  commonly,  and  luxuriance  is,  as  a  rule,  the 
character  of  the  subjects  chosen  in  this  style  as  it  is  of  their  mode  of  treat- 
ment. 

The  great  groups  which  form  the  leading  compositions  on  these  vases 
are  very  differently  arranged  from  those  of  all  earlier  periods.  A  stately 
colonnaded  building  usually  forms  the  centre  of  the  design,  and  round  about 
it  numbers  of  figures  are  grouped  right  and  left,  above  and  below.  The 
multitude  of  the  figures  in  these  compositions  is  indeed  astonishing.  When 
the  personages  proper  to  the  story  are  not  enough  to  fill  the  space,  the  artist 
invents  supernumerary  figures  at  discretion.      Inscriptions  added  to  these  often 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  85 

enable  us  to  recognise  them  as  personifications  such  as  were  popular  at  this 
time,  but  often  also,  in  the  absence  of  such  inscriptions,  they  are  ver}'  difficult 
to  identify.  In  the  arrangement  of  the  figures,  those  placed  below  are  meant 
to  be  considered  as  in  front,  and  those  above  as  behind — an  intention,  however, 
which  is  not  carried  out  by  any  diminution  of  the  upper  figures  in  perspective. 
The  different  places  of  the  scene  are  indicated  b)'  ground  lines,  from  which 
grasses,  herbs,  or  flowers,  are  often  represented  as  springing.  Such  lines, 
again,  are  frequently  replaced  by  rows  of  white  or  yellow  dots,  between  which 
stones  and  rocks  are  scattered  according  to  the  requirements  of  the  scene. 
In  such  particulars  the  older  style  of  vase-painting,  w^hich  worked  in  simple 
profile,  had  often  had  to  employ  modes  of  compromise  with  the  pictorial 
principles  of  the  easel-painters,  of  which  the  effect  was  curious  enough  ;  but 
in  this  late  ware  it  is  certain  that  the  designers  renounced  complete  pictorial 
perspective  only  in  the  just  interests  of  the  decorative  laws  imposed  upon 
them  by  the  form  of  the  vase  and  the  constructive  necessities  of  the  case. 

The  treatment  of  the  figure  in  this  style  is  free  to  the  point  of  arbitrariness, 
the  forms,  as  a  rule,  too  soft  and  flaccid  for  refinement,  and  not  unfrequently 
disfigured  by  false  drawing.  An  extreme  facility  of  hand  is  universal.  A 
love  of  the  subtle  and  far-fetched  betrays  itself  in  variety  of  posture,  often 
accompanied  with  skilful  foreshortening,  as  well  as  in  fanciful  and  richly 
embroidered  draperies  which  remind  us  of  theatrical  costumes  and  were  often 
in  fact  copied  from  them.  We  discern  everywhere  a  striving  after  effects  and 
surprises.  In  this,  as  in  the  previous  style,  vases  are  commonly  painted  with 
a  black  ground,  the  figures  being  left  the  colour  of  the  clay.  But  the  effect 
is  also  heightened  with  the  addition  of  other  colours,  although  these,  when 
they  are  restricted,  as  usually  happens,  to  shaded  work  in  white,  yellow,  brown, 
and  especially  in  red,  blend  harmoniously  with  the  dominant  colour  of  the  clay 
ground  and  do  not  look  too  bright  or  various.  Bright  and  various  colours, 
including  even  blue  and  green,  do,  however,  in  occasional  instances  occur  in  this 
style.  Among  masters  of  the  style  may  be  mentioned  the  names  of  Assteas, 
Lasimos,  and  Python. 

Vases  of  this  latest  character  may  be  traced  down  to  about  B.C.  65. 
The  manufacture  of  painted  vases  then  disappears.  The  Romans  did  not 
encourage  it.  But  the  art  had  lasted  long  enough  to  give  us  a  faithful  reflec- 
tion, if  only  with  the  imperfections  proper  to  a  humble  industry,  of  the  graphic 
arts  of  Greece  in  the  several  phases  of  their  history. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

EXISTING  REMAINS  CONTINUED — MISCELLANEOUS. 

Engraved  Bronzes —Toilet-cases  and  mirrors — Their  origin;  examples  of  mirrors  found  in  Greece 

Cistas  or  toilet-cases  found  at  Prseneste — The  Ficoroni  cista — Designs  on  Etruscan  mirrors  ;  their  artistic 
character ;  their  subjects — Mosaic  ;  invention  and  first  application  of  the  art — Mosaic  patterns  and 
mosaic  pictures ;  examples  of  both  found  in  various  regions — Date  of  the  first  mosaic  pictures  ;  the 
oikos  asaratos  of  Sosos — The  Capitoline  Doves — Rarity  of  mosaics  applied  to  wall-decoration ;  their 
frequency  as  applied  to  pavement  decoration  ;  examples — The  battle  of  Issos  from  the  Casa  del  Faicno, 
Pompeii,  probably  after  a  painting  by  Helena  of  Alexandria — The  Nile  mosaic  at  Palestrina — Landscape 
mosaics  and  other  miscellaneous  examples — Paintings  on  Stone  ;  these  the  only  remaining  easel-pictures 
of  antiquity — Paintings  in  red  outline  on  stone  from  Pompeii — The  Niobe  of  Pompeii — The  so-called 
Muse  of  Cortona — The  Amazon  sarcophagus  of  Cometo — Miniatures  :  the  name  given  to  all  illustra- 
tions of  MSS. — Preserved  examples  belong  exclusively  to  the  decadence — The  Milan  Homer — Two 
A'irgils  at  the  Vatican— MSS.  of  Terence  at  the  Vatican,  Paris,  and  Oxford— MS.  of  Nikander  at  Paris. 

I.  Engraved  Bronzes. — In  studying  the  painted  vases  of  the  ancients, 
we  had  to  consider  examples  coming  from  widely  scattered  sites.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  products  of  the  industry  with  which  we  have  next  to  deal 
come  for  the  most  part  from  a  comparatively  limited  region  :  we  mean 
those  examples  of  bronze  ware  of  which  the  surface  is  ornamented  with  in- 
cised outline  designs.  These  works  of  the  graving  tool,  which  the  Italians  call 
graffiti,  may  be  regarded  as  the  forerunners  of  the  modern  art  of  metal  engrav- 
ing. The  objects  so  decorated,  with  which  we  have  chiefly  to  deal,  are  of  two 
kinds — viz.  (i)  Toilet-cases;  these  are  now  commonly  known  simply  as  cistcE, 
but  used  to  be  called  mystic  cistae,  because  erroneously  supposed  to  have  been 
intended  for  use  in  the  mysteries  ;  and  (2)  Mirrors,  which  by  a  similar  error 
were  formerly  taken  to  be  sacrificial  plates.  Every  one  now  acknowledges  the 
true  cli^racter  of  such  objects  as  being  no  more  than  respectively  ordinary 
dressing  or  jewel  cases  and  mirrors. 

The  greater  part  of  these  engraved  objects  in  bronze  have  been  found 
in  central  Italy,  partly  in  Etruria  and  partly  in  Latium.  They  were  formerly 
supposed  to  be  almost  unknown  in  Greece.  So  recent  a  scholar  as  Gerhard 
could  express  his  surprise  that  mirrors  of  Greek  origin  had  been  found  possess- 
ing the  utmost  beauty  of  form,  and  with  their  handles  most  artistically 
wrought,  but  none  with  designs  engraved  upon  their  surfaces.  Later  dis- 
coveries have  invalidated  this  view.  One  example  from  Greek  soil  has 
been  known  for  some  time,  in  the  shape  of  a  bronze  disk  found  in  the  island  of 
-^gina    and  now  in   the   museum   at  Berlin  ;    this  is  engraved   in   the   severe 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY. 


S? 


archaic  style  with  figures  of  young  men  engaged  in  athletic  exercises.  A  re- 
markable disk  adorned  with  the  same  subject,  found  in  Sicily  and  now  in  the 
British  Museum,  has  lately  been  made  extremely  well  known  (Fig.  19).  In  this 
example  we  find  on  the  one  side  a  }-outh  with  the  halteres,  or  weights  used  in 
jumping,  and  on  the  other  side  a  similar  youth  with  a  javelin,  both  drawn  in  a 
good  archaic  style  which  we  may  refer  to  the  fifth  century  B.C.  To  these 
examples  others  of  the   same  kind   attach  themselves.-^      Moreover,  we  have 


Fig.  19. 

quite  lately  become  acquainted  with  a  special  but  not  numerous  class  of 
mirrors,  found  for  the  most  part  in  Corinth,  and  engraved  with  designs  of  a 
character  genuinely  and  unmistakably  Greek.  The  earliest  known  of  these 
represents  two  veiled  women;  on  the  second  appears  the  genius  of  cock-fighting  ; 
on  a  third  the  figure  of  a  female  Bacchant.  On  the  other  hand,  a  mirror  lately 
discovered  in  Crete  shows  a  winged  genius  of  less  purely  Greek  aspect  (Fig.  20). 
Having  said  thus  much  of  these  examples  of  pure  Greek  metal-engraving — 
examples  few  indeed,  as  yet,  but  of  the  utmost  importance  as  proving  that  the 
Greeks  took  the  lead  in  this  as  in  other  branches  of  art — we  have  now  to  turn 
to  the  works  of  the  same  class  discovered  in  Italian  soil.  These  cannot  indeed 
be  compared  with  the  Greek  works  in  freshness  and  originality  of  style,  but 
they  have  been  found  in  much  greater  numbers,  and  have  been  longer  and 
better    known. 


88 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


Let  us  take  first  the  engraved  metal  caskets  of  the  kind  commonly  known 
as  Praenestine  cistas,  because  they  have  been  found  for  the  most  part  at 
Prjeneste,  the  modern  Palestrina."^  It  has  been  supposed  that  the  scenes  repre- 
sented upon  them  were  originally  picked  out  in  various  colours  within  their 
incised  outlines,  but  this  conjecture  is  not  borne  out  either  by  their  appearance 
or  by  the  condition  in  which  they  were  found.      It  is  more  conceivable  that  the 


F\<z.  20. 


outlines  in  question  were  filled  with  some  substance  of  a  different  colour  from 
the  bronze,  according  to  the  method  known  as  niello.  The  effect  of  the  scenes 
depicted  is  entirely  that  of  outline  designs,  as  the  interior  parts  of  the  figures 
are  defined  by  the  necessary  markings  and  a  certain  slight  amount  of  shading. 
The  body  as  well  as  the  cover  of  the  casket  is  generally  ornamented  with  such 
designs  as  we  have  mentioned,  and  the  vessel  is  decorated  both  above  and  below 
with  borders  of  much  beauty  and  excellence  of  st}-le. 

The  subjects  of  these  designs,  so  far  as  the)-  are  of  a  m)thological  cast,  are 
borrowed  usually  from  Greek  and  less  frequentl}-  from  native  Italian  legend  ; 
along  with  these  we  find  also  scenes  of  everyday  life,  such  as  hunting,  young 
men  arming,  meetings  of  youth  and  maid,  and  so  forth.  Combats  of  animals  also 
occur. 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  89 

Of  these  incised  drawings  the  style,  speaking  generally,  is  native  Italian — 
sensibly  influenced,  indeed,  by  Greek  art,  yet  independent  up  to  a  certain  point. 
It  is,  however,  destitute  of  that  profound  respect  for  nature  which,  combined 
with  a  not  less  earnest  spirit  of  discipline  and  self-restraint,  gives  to  the  works 
of  Greek  art  and  even  of  Greek  handicraft  their  incomparable  nobility  and  the 
high  perfection  of  their  style.  A  very  few  works  only  of  the  class  exhibit  such 
purity  and  beauty  as  to  warrant  us  in  positively  ascribing  their  execution  to 
Greek  artists  emplo)'ed  in  Italian  manufactories. 

The  first  cista  found  at  Praeneste  is  that  known  as  the  Ficoroni  cista,  and 
was  discovered  before  A.D.  1739.  In  1866  Schone  reckoned  at  about  seventy 
the  total  number  of  such  cistae  then  known,  and  this  number  has  since  been  con- 
siderably increased.  The  greater  part  of  these  are  preserved  in  Roman  collec- 
tions, and  especially  in  the  Barberini  collection  ;  there  are  also  some  at  Paris, 
Berlin,  and  other  places.  The  names  by  which  they  are  spoken  of  arc  com- 
monly those  of  their  first  owners.  Hardly  any  of  them  can  be  of  later  date  than 
about  the  end  of  the  third  century  B.C.  They  therefore  belong  to  a  time  at  which 
the  graphic  arts  in  Greece  had  won  their  way  to  the  greatest  possible  freedom, 
and  the  influence  of  this  free  Greek  style  makes  itself  felt  in  their  designs, 
in  spite  of  all  native  weakness  of  drawing. 

We  will  speak  in  detail  of  only  one  example,  viz.  the  Ficoroni  cista  already 
mentioned,  which  is  preserved  in  the  Museum  Kircherianum  at  Rome.  This 
not  only  was  the  earliest  found  of  its  class,  but  is  also  the  oldest  and  most 
beautiful,  and  it  may  belong  to  about  the  beginning  of  the  third  century. 
The  scene  which  encircles  the  body  of  the  casket  represents  an  episode  from 
the  tale  of  the  Argonauts.  Jason  and  his  companions  are  supposed  to  have 
landed  to  draw  water  in  the  country  of  the  Bebrykians,  opposite  the  modern 
Constantinople.  But  the  spring  is  guarded  by  the  savage  giant-king  Amykos, 
who  challenges  every  stranger  to  a  fight  with  fists  and  vanquishes  him.  Happily, 
however,  Polydeukes  himself,  afterwards  a  presiding  deity  of  the  paLx^stra,  is 
among  the  heroes  of  the  expedition  ;  he  beats  Amykos  and  binds  him  to  a  tree. 
This  story  is  depicted  with  admirable  beauty  and  liveliness  in  a  frieze-shaped 
composition  which  forms  a  consistent  whole,  but  can  yet  be  broken  up  and  con- 
sidered in  its  several  parts.  We  see  the  ship  lying  b\'  the  shore  ;  one  goodly  hero 
lies  asleep  on  deck,  another  descends  the  gangway  to  the  beach  ;  a  third  looks 
on  from  on  board  at  the  chastisement  of  the  churlish  king  (Fig.  21).  Pol)'dcukes, 
upon  whose  head  a  winged  Victory  sets  a  wreath,  tightens  the  rope  with  which 
he  is  binding  Amykos  to  a  tree.  A  group  of  heroes  scoop  and  drink  water 
from  the  source  which  is  now  set  free,  and  in  front  of  which  Scilcnos  appears 
grinning  complacently  among  the  rest.  Another  grouj)  of  naked  youths,  of 
noble  build  and  stature,  lof)k  f)n  in  various  attitudes  and  with  manifest  con- 
tent at  the  exploit  of  their  godlike  counade.  Pallas  Athene,  the  tutelary 
goddess  of  the  Greeks   at   every  hour  of  need,  is   also   h)-.      The  introduction  of 

N 


90 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


certain  lesser  divinities,  as  well  as  the  character  of  the  whole  conception,  leads 
us  to  ascribe  this  drawing,  with  its  loving  thoroughness  in  the  carrying  out  of 
many  a  detail,  to  a  time  not  earlier  than  that  of  Alexander  the  Great.  At 
any  rate,  the  artist  shows  the  utmost  mastery  of  all  technical  means,  as  well 
as  of  drawing  and  foreshortening,  and  in  spite  of  the  predominance  he  gives 
to  beauty  has  not  neglected  individual  truth  to  nature.  Many  writers  declare 
that  this  casket  is  the  very  finest  monument  of  graphic  art  which  antiquity 
has  left  us  ;  and  one  skilled  connoisseur  has  added  the  opinion  that  even  Italian 
art  in  the  cinquecento  never  produced  finer  drawing.'^^ 


Fie  21. 


Engraved  mirrors,  which  we  shall  next  examine,  are  round  disks  provided  with 
a  handle.  The  front  of  the  disk  was  formed  by  the  flat  polished  surface  used  as  a 
mirror.  The  back  was  ornamented  with  incised  drawings  executed  in  a  manner 
corresponding  to  that  of  the  caskets  from  Praeneste.  Such  mirrors,  indeed, 
have  sometimes  actually  been  found  inside  these  caskets,  though  more  commonly 
alone.  They  are  a  much  more  numerous  class  of  objects  than  the  caskets,  and 
may  be  reckoned,  without  fear  of  exaggeration,  at  over  a  thousand,  dispersed 
among  the  various  museums  of  Europe.  The  Antiquarium  at  Berlin  is  especially 
rich  in  fine  examples.  They  are  usually  called  Etruscan  mirrors,  and  have  in 
truth  been  found  for  the  most  part  in  Etruscan  tombs.-^      Their  inscriptions,  too, 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  91 

both  with  regard  to  characters  and  word-forms,  point  to  a  similar  origin.  Never- 
theless, a  good  many  have  been  found  outside  Etruria  ;  not  merely,  for  instance, 
the  Greek  examples  already  mentioned,  but  others  in  Latium,  especially  at 
Prsneste  ;  nor  are  examples  bearing  Latin  inscriptions  wanting.  The  manu- 
facture was  evidently  carried  on  for  several  centuries,  and  lasts  from  the  time 
of  the  independence  of  Etruria  down  to  the  last  days  of  the  Roman  Republic. 
This  is  proved  by  the  variety  of  style  in  the  designs,  in  which  we  can  trace  all 
the  changes  of  Etruscan  art,  from  its  archaic  awkwardness  to  the  laxity  and 
dissolution  of  all  form  characteristic  of  its  decline. 

The  artistic  value  of  these  mirror-drawings  varies  surprisingly.  By  far  the 
greater  number  show  no  trace  of  the  Hellenic  feeling  for  form,  but  assert  them- 
selves as  the  everyday  handiwork  of  native  journeymen.  Many  are  formless  to 
the  point  of  caricature,  and  only  a  few  la}'  claim,  like  the  Ficoroni  casket,  by 
the  beaut}'  of  their  composition  and  nobility  of  their  outlines,  to  be  the  work  of 
Greek  hands  in  the  pay  of  Italian  employers. 

The  scenes  are  usually  well  composed  in  the  circular  field,  and  are  enclosed 
sometimes  with  a  conventionalised  and  sometimes  with  a  realistic  leaf  border. 
The  mythical  and  other  conceptions  here  embodied  bear  in  essentials  the 
Hellenic  character.  Some  designs,  which  in  style  of  treatment  have  nothing 
Greek  about  them,  show  nevertheless  in  their  subject  distinct  influences  of 
Greek  culture  ;  but  these  influences  are  seldom  pure,  more  commonly  they  are 
strongly  infused  with  Etruscan  elements,  which  in  itself  is  sufficient  reason  for 
declining  to  regard  them  as  really  Greek. 

The  representations  of  gods  belong  in  part  to  the  native  creeds  of  Italy. 
These  are  hard  to  explain,  and  satisfactory  interpretations  have  by  no  means 
been  found  for  them  all.  Winged  figures,  in  the  creation  of  which  the  Etruscan 
imagination  was  very  prolific,  play  here  as  elsewhere  in  the  works  of  this  race, 
a  leading  part.  Motives  may  also  often  be  recognised  as  having  sprung  from  an 
adaptation  of  Greek  myths  to  the  native  Etruscan  diemonology.  Among  sub- 
jects of  pure  Greek  mythology,  several  of  the  more  considerable  refer  to  Zeus, 
Athene,  and  Poseidon  ;  we  find,  for  instance,  the  Birth  of  Athene,  Athene  in  the 
Battle  of  Gods  and  Giants,  Poseidon  drawn  by  winged  horses,  with  Eros  play- 
ing by  him.  The  Delphic  divinities  also — Leto,  Apollo,  and  Artemis — are 
grouped  together  on  a  few  of  these  mirrors.  Subjects  of  the  Bacchic  cycle  are 
still  more  numerous,  among  which  we  may  single  out  Zeus  and  Semele  (Fig.  22), 
the  Birth  of  Dionysos,  and  Dionysos  with  Ariadne  ;  and  with  these  are  naturally 
associated  figures  of  Scilenos,  Satyrs,  and  Bacchants.  The  cycle  of  the  goddess 
of  love  is  also  richly  represented.  Aphrodite  is  often  grouped  with  Adonis,  or 
we  find  her  tossing  Eros  in  a  swing.  The  same  Eros  recurs  in  plent}'  of  other 
motives.  A  great  part  is  played  by  Kastor  and  Polydeukes,to  the  representations 
of  whom  in  various  situations  it  has  been  attempted  to  give  a  significance 
connected   with   the  priestly  mysteries.     Among  heroic  subjects,  the  tales  of 


92 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


the  Trojan  cycle  fill  a  prominent  place.  The  Judgment  of  Paris  is  one  of  the 
favourite  subjects  in  this  as  in  so  many  other  ancient  and  modern  forms  of  art. 
Side  by  side  with  these  mythological  subjects  we  find  also  mirrors  orna- 
mented with  scenes  from  everyday  life  :  horse-racing,  throwing  the  discus,  young 
men  putting  on  their  armour,  wrestlings  and  friendly  gatherings,  illustrate  the 
daily  life  of  men.  That  of  women  is  exhibited  chiefly  in  their  relations  with 
men.  Motives  of  the  most  various  kinds  are  suggested  by  marriage  scenes, 
love  scenes,  assemblies  and  rencontres,  which  sometimes  take  a  dubious  turn. 


Fi''.    22. 


II.  Mosaics. — The  art  of  putting  pictures  together  out  of  small  cubes 
of  natural  stone,  or  pieces  of  many -coloured  glass,  seems  to  have  been 
invented  in  the  first  instance  for  the  adornment  of  floors.  But  for  this 
purpose  linear  patterns,  and  conventionalised  plant  ornaments  fitted  to  the 
shape  of  the  space  intended  to  be  decorated,  are  more  suitable  than  actual 
pictures.  The  shapes  of  animals  and  men  can  only  be  accommodated  to 
such  patterns  on  condition  of  being  treated  in  a  more  or  less  abstract  and 
decorative  way.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  a  series  of  the  best  ancient  and  modern 
mosaic    pavements    bear    out    this    rule ;    it    is   also    illustrated    in    the    only 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY. 


93 


mosaic  hitherto  found  on  Greek  ground — that,  namely,  which  was  brought  to 
hght  by  the  first  French  expedition  in  the  entrance  to  the  temple  of  Zeus  at 
Olympia.  This  work  is  unfortunatelj-  in  a  ver\-  dilapidated  state  ;  it  was 
originall}-  formed  of  the  natural  black,  white,  brown,  yellow,  and  red  pebbles 
found  in  the  Alpheios,  but  in  the  time  of  the  Romans  it  was  plastered  over  with 
scraps  of  costly  marbles.  Dr.  Hirschfeld  ascribes  this  mosaic  to  about  the  time 
of  Alexander. 

The  desire  to  imitate  real  pictures  in  mosaic  seems  to  have  arisen  in  the 
age  following  Alexander.  It  seems  a  self-evident  error  in  taste  to  put  such 
representations,  especially  when  they  are  designed  in  perspective,  in  a  situation 
where  they  must  be  trodden  under  foot ;  but  for  our  present  purpose  this 
is  precisely  the  class  of  mosaic  on  which  we  have  to  dwell.  Small  pictures 
introduced  medallion-wise  into  a  scheme  of  ornament  are  less  open  to  objection 
than  large  pictures  covering  a  whole  floor-space.  Examples  of  both  kinds, 
however,  exist  in  considerable  numbers.  The  richest  source  of  such  discoveries 
has  been  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Rome  and  Pompeii  ;  hence  we  find  most  of 
the  finest  antique  mosaics  preserved  in  various  Roman  collections,  and  in  the 
National  Museum  at  Naples.  But  important  discoveries  of  mosaics  have  also 
been  made  in  Spain  and  Africa,  and  north  of  the  Alps  in  France,  Germany, 
England,  Hungary,  and  Transylvania.  The  Lupi  mosaic,  which  represents 
Helios  among  the  signs  of  the  zodiac,  with  personifications  of  the  Seasons 
below,  was  found  in  Italy  and  is  preserved  at  Munich.  Of  mosaics  found 
in  Germany,  that  in  the  Darmstadt  museum  was  discovered  at  Vilbel  in  Upper 
Hesse  ;  another,  more  frequently  mentioned,  was  found  at  Nennig  ;  in  Cologne 
there  was  brought  to  light  one  with  busts  of  philosophers  and  poets,  and  among 
them  Diogenes,  Socrates,  and  Sophocles.  A  mosaic  found  in  Salzburg  repre- 
sents a  scene  from  the  story  of  Theseus  ;  others  excavated  at  Varhel}'  in 
Transylvania,  and  since  unfortunately  destroyed,  represented  a  Judgment  of 
Paris,  and  Priam  in  the  tent  of  Achilles. 

The  history  of  the  invention  of  the  art  of  mosaic  and  its  introduction  into 
Italy  can  to  some  extent  be  traced.  Ornamental  pavements  in  mosaic  were 
probably  invented  in  the  East,  and  at  a  very  ancient  date.  But  it  was  not,  as 
we  have  said,  until  the  Hellenistic  age,  the  age  following  Alexander,  that  the 
transfer  of  actual  pictures  to  this  material  was  practised.  Thus  we  hear  of 
splendid  mosaics  adorning  several  saloons  in  the  giant  ship  of  King  Hieron  of 
Syracuse,  which  represented  scenes  from  the  Trojan  war.  Moreover,  Plin)' 
writes  of  an  artist  in  mosaic  who  belonged  to  the  age  of  the  Diadochi  :  "  The 
most  famous  in  this  art  is  Sosos,  who  executed  in  Pergamos  an  oikos  asaratos  or 
unswept  house,  so  called  because  it  represented  the  remains  of  food  and  other 
.sweepings  as  if  left  about  on  the  floor,  by  means  of  little  cubes  of  different 
colours.  Much  to  be  admired  herein  is  a  dove  drinking  and  darkening  the 
water  by  the  shadow  of  its  head  ;  other  doves  sun  and  i)Iume  themselves  on  the 


94 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


rim  of  the  vessel.""^  A  fortunate  chance  has  preserved  for  us  parts  of  different 
repetitions  of  this  famous  piece.  Mosaic  pavements  representing  the  remains  of 
a  meal  have  been  found,  for  instance,  in  North  Africa  and  on  the  Aventine,  and 
pieces  of  the  latter,  in  which  the  artist,  Herakleitos,  has  introduced  his  name,  are 
now  in  the  museum  of  the  Lateran.  All  these  scattered  objects  on  a  white 
ground — mussels,  snail-shells,  fish-bones  and  other  bones,  lobster-claws,  leaves, 
cherries,  grape-stalks,  oyster-shells,  and  the  mouse  which  is  making  itself  at 
home  among  the  scraps — produce  a  very  natural  and  pleasant  effect.  The  finest 
example  of  the  subject  of  doves  on  the  edge  of  a  basin  is  that  found  in  Had- 
rian's villa  at  Tivoli,  and  famous  under  the  name  of  the  Capitoline  Doves,  after 
the  museum  in  which  they  are  now  placed  (Fig.  23).      This  is  among  the  most 


Fig.  23. 

popular  works  of  ancient  art,  and  does  in  reality  set  before  us  a  most  dainty 
picture  of  still-life,  showing  great  artistic  power  in  the  natural  treatment  of 
glancing  lights  and  shadows  on  the  plumage.  The  doves  sit  on  the  edge  of  a 
round  bowl  filled  with  water  ;  one  of  them  bends  her  neck  down  to  drink, 
another  plumes  herself,  and  two  more  look  expectantly  about. 

Sulla  is  said  to  have  first  transplanted  this  art  of  executing  true  pictures  in 
mosaic  to  Rome,  and  Marcus  Scaurus  to  have  been  the  first  in  that  city  who 
decorated  a  wall-surface — the  middle  course,  namely,  of  the  stage-wall  of  his 
great  theatre — with  glass  mosaic  of  various  colours.  Later  this  fashion  of 
decorating  not  only  floors,  but  walls,  with  mosaic  became  more  and  more 
frequent.      But  from  pagan  times  very  few  examples  of  such  decoration  applied 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  95 

to  perpendicular  surfaces  are  preserved,  except  the  interior  walls  of  some  small 
covered  wells  at  Pompeii,  a  niche  from  Ostia,  the  wall  of  a  niche  from  Baiee, 
some  columns  from  Pompeii,  and  a  few  other  things. 

On  the  other  hand  the  mosaic  pavements  found  and  still  preserved  in 
Ital}-  are  very  numerous  ;  some  of  these  are  in  simple  black  and  white,  some 
richly  variegated,  others  in  various  limited  degrees  of  variegation  ;  some  are 
only  ornamented  with  patterns,  some  with  pictures  let  into  patterns,  and 
sometimes  the  whole  pavement  consists  of  a  single  large  picture.  We  can 
only  take  notice  of  a  very  few  examples. 

First  of  all  must  be  mentioned  the  famous  work  found  24th  October 
183 1,  in  the  so-called  Casa  del  Fmino  in  Pompeii,  and  now  in  the  museum 
at  Naples."^  It  represents  a  battle -scene,  full  of  fire  and  movemcn.t,  which 
covered  the  whole  floor  of  a  hall  in  that  tastefully  decorated  house  ;  and  is 
in  the  true  sense  of  the  word  a  great  historical  picture  (Fig.  24).  After 
setting  aside  various  erroneous  opinions  v.'hich  have  been  propounded  about  the 
subject  of  this  work,  we  may  now  affirm  with  certainty  that  it  represents  the 
'  battle  of  Issos,  in  which  Alexander  routed  the  Persian  king  Darius,  B.C.  233. 
There  could  from  the  first  have  been  no  doubt  that  we  had  before  us  some 
encounter  of  ]\Iacedonians  and  Persians ;  but  that  the  battle  of  Issos  in  particular 
must  have  been  meant,  follows  from  a  compari.son  of  the  principal  episode  in  the 
mosaic  picture  with  a  description  in  Curtius  Rufus.  That  writer  tells  how 
Darius,  when  he  had  lost  several  of  his  chief  officers  and  his  own  chariot  was 
involved  in  the  general  disorder  of  the  flight,  would  have  fallen  into  the 
hands  of  the  pursuing  Macedonians  if  he  had  not  saved  himself  on  a  horse 
which  was  offered  him.  This  is  the  moment  represented.  On  the  left  the 
Macedonians  charge  with  Alexander  at  their  head,  who,  careless  of  the  loss  01 
his  helmet,  dashes  along  on  a  fiery  steed.  On  the  right  and  largest  half  of  the 
picture  we  witness  the  confusion  and  flight  of  the  Persians  ;  about  the  middle  is 
a  Persian  noble,  perhaps  the  brother  of  Darius,  fallen  to  the  ground.  The  king, 
despite  the  flight  of  his  host,  stands  up  in  his  chariot  and  turns  facing  the 
enemy  and  stretching  out  his  arms  towards  his  wounded  friend  ;  meantime  his 
chariot  and  team  are  in  confusion,  but  another  trusty  follower  has  leaped  from 
his  horse  and  holds  it  in  readiness  for  his  king.  Thi-s  horse  stands  in  the 
middle  foreground,  and  is  seen  directly  in  rear  ;  it  must  clearly  possess  some 
special  significance. 

The  composition  of  this  mosaic  is  in  the  highest  degree  admirable.  The 
groups  are  excellently  balanced,  and  the  tumult  is  distinctl)-  rendered  with 
but  few  materials.  The  incident  we  have  described  forms  both  materially 
and  dramatically  the  central  point  of  the  picture.  Indeed,  it  is  not  often 
that  a  crisis  of  such  moving  and  intense  susi)cnse  has  been  represented  with 
so  much  inward  life  and  at  the  same  time  with  such  simplicity  and  clearnes.s. 
The    single   figures    are    cjf   a    corresponding   e.xcellence    of  execution,    though 


96 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  97 

certain  things,  as  the  foreshortening  of  the  horse  seen  in  rear,  do  not  appear  to 
be  perfectly  correct.  So  far  as  we  know,  the  heads — especially  that  of  Darius, 
whose  face,  notwithstanding  its  look  of  anguish,  is  full  of  manly  fire — are 
unsurpassed  for  emotional  expression  in  any  work  of  ancient  painting.  These 
high  qualities  explain  the  enthusiasm  with  which  the  discovery  of  the  picture 
was  greeted  on  all  sides.  Goethe  in  his  old  age  spoke  of  it  as  a  marvel 
of  art,  which  forces  us  back,  when  we  have  done  with  critical  examination, 
to  a  mood  of  simple  and  pure  admiration.  But  we  must  take  care  not  to 
allow  our  first  enthusiasm  to  blind  us  to  evident  shortcomings  such  as  that 
in  the  foreshortening  of  the  horse  above  mentioned.  These  are  faults,  how- 
ever, which  we  must  ascribe  only  to  the  hand  of  the  workman  who  copied 
the  picture  in  mosaic,  and  not  to  its  original  designer.  For  the  design  repeated 
in  this  mosaic  is  possibly  to  be  identified  with  that  of  a  certain  picture  known 
in  the  history  of  ancient  art  ;  indeed,  if  our  accounts  are  to  be  trusted, 
scarcely  any  other  remaining  monument  can  be  identified  with  as  much  prob- 
ability. The  picture  in  question  is  that  in  which  Helena,  a  lady  painter 
already  mentioned,  depicted  a  battle  fought  during  her  own  lifetime — the  battle, 
namely,  of  Issos.  This  picture  was  removed  by  the  Emperor  Vespasian  to 
Rome.  Now  our  Pompeian  mosaic  must  have  been  executed  during  or  imme- 
diately after  the  time  of  Vespasian  ;  and  a  border  of  Egyptian  style  which, 
though  now  separately  preserved  in  another  part  of  the  Naples  museum, 
undoubtedly  forms  part  of  that  work,  seems  to  point  appropriately  to  the 
Egyptian  birth  of  Helena.  The  accounts  concerning  Helena  and  her  picture, 
however  intrinsically  improbable,  seem  thus  to  receive  confirmation  from  the 
existence  of  this  mosaic,  which  in  spite  of  the  stubbornness  of  the  material 
employed  will  always  hold  a  prominent  place  among  all  remains  of  Grcco- 
Roman  painting.      Its  colours  are  harmonious,  though  rather  faded. 

The  largest  of  all  antique  pictures  in  this  material  is  the  Nile  mosaic 
discovered  at  Palestrina,  and  still  preserved  there."*^  This  work  measures  six 
metres  by  five,  and  exhibits  in  bird's-eye  view  an  evidently  Egyptian  land- 
scape,— in  the  background  the  desert,  and  in  the  foreground  a  town  flooded  by 
the  Nile.  In  the  desert,  along  with  its  more  familiar  denizens,  are  fabulous 
and  strangely  compounded  monsters,  of  which  the  names  are  supplied  in 
inscriptions,  and  a  troup  of  negroes  sally  forth  with  bows  and  arrows  to  the 
chase.  The  inundated  city  looks  like  an  archipelago,  its  straits  alive  with 
boats.  The  islands  are  covered  with  a  number  of  splendid  buildings,  temples, 
dwelling-houses,  arbours,  tents,  and  poorer  huts,  shaded  by  palms  and  cypresses, 
and  enlivened  by  figure  incidents  in  great  variety.  Egyptians  hunt  the  "  Nile 
horse  "  or  hippopotamus,  while  the  sacred  crocodile  suns  himself  unmolested 
on  the  flowery  banks.  In  a  vine  bower,  through  which  waters  flow,  a  company 
of  revellers  hold  a  merry  meeting.  (It  has  been  proved  that  the  original 
fragment    containing    this     scene     is    at    the     Berlin     museum,    having    been 

O 


98  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

replaced  at  Palestrina  by  a  copy.)  In  front  of  a  temple-like  building  a  festal 
ceremony  is  conducted  under  an  awning  ;  a  band  of  warriors  in  European, 
apparently  Greek,  dress,  led  by  a  crowned  man  in  kingly  garb,  are  greeted  by 
a  woman  who  seems  either  a  priestess  or  a  personification  of  Egypt.  Many 
commentators  have  tried  to  give  this  scene  a  historical  significance,  but  have 
not  been  able  to  agree  as  to  what  event  is  represented.  Probably  the  artist 
only  wished  to  give  a  general  picture  of  Egypt,  and  does  indeed  render  in  a 
very  vivid  and  striking  way  the  character  both  of  the  landscape  and  of  the 
life  of  Egypt  in  the  Hellenistic  age,  and  that  at  a  characteristic  season  — 
the  season,  namely,  of  the  annual  inundations.  There  is  no  question  of  per- 
spective in  the  picture  as  a  whole,  but  only  in  particular  details.  The  figures 
in  the  background  are  no  smaller  than  those  in  the  foreground.  Still  a  kind 
of  subordination  of  parts  is  preserved  from  an  elevated  point  of  sight  and  in 
the  manner  of  a  bird's-eye  view.  It  is  a  kind  of  compromise  between  true 
perspective  and  the  method  of  a  map  or  ground-plan.  The  same  mixed 
system  is  repeated  in  various  small  landscape  mosaics. 

Landscapes  often  occur  in  the  mosaic  pavements  of  Roman  villas,  con- 
formably to  the  late  period  of  antiquity  to  which  such  works  belong  ;  a  whole 
series  of  this  kind  comes,  for  instance,  from  Hadrian's  villa  at  Tivoli."'  Most  of 
these  are  preserved  in  the  Vatican,  but  one,  representing  in  a  naturalistic  and 
spirited  manner  a  fight  of  two  Centaurs  against  a  lion,  tiger,  and  panther,  in 
the  midst  of  a  wild  and  rocky  landscape,  has  found  its  way  to  the  Antiquarium 
of  the  Berlin  museum.  The  Guattani  mosaic,  with  a  view  of  a  lonely  lake  and 
mountain  at  sunrise,  is  also  interesting."^  Lastly,  we  may  mention  two  more 
mosaics  found  at  Pompeii  and  distinguished  for  peculiar  refinement  of  exe- 
cution, whence,  we  may  guess,  it  has  happened  that  the  artist  thought  it 
worth  while  to  sign  them  with  his  name,  Dioskurides  of  Samos.  These 
represent  stage-players  ;  on  one  we  see  three  masked  women  and  a  child,  wnth 
tambourine,  flutes,  and  castanets,  leading  a  dance ;  while  the  corresponding 
piece  shows  a  group  of  masked  figures  more  in  repose. 

These  and  many  other  mosaics  set  before  us  valuable  examples  of  the 
state  of  painting  under  the  Roman  empire,  when  the  art  ranged  from  the  most 
trivial  objects  of  still  life  to  the  most  ambitious  allegories,  and  when  none  of 
the  problems  of  pictorial  handling  were  any  longer  a  secret.  This  particular 
craft,  however,  never  loses  a  certain  character  of  hardness  and  mechanical 
routine. 

III.  Paintings  on  Stone.  —  In  connection  with  mosaic  pictures  fitted 
together  in  stone,  it  is  proper  to  speak  of  another  class  of  pictures,  those 
executed  in  colours  laid  on  a  stone  surface.  We  know  that  the  Greeks  held 
white  marble  to  be  a  very  favourable  substance  for  carrying  colour;  that  they 
ornamented  their  marble  temples  with  a  rich  diversity  of  hues;  and  that  they, 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  99 

partially  at  least,  tinted  their  marble  statues.  But  we  have  now  to  do  with 
actual  drawings  or  paintings  on  a  marble  or  other  stone  surface,  and  once  more, 
as  befits  our  purpose,  only  with  the  most  important  examples.  These  are 
doubly  interesting,  inasmuch  as  easel-pictures  on  wood  or  ivory  do  not  exist, 
nor  can  pieces  cut  out  of  mural-paintings  be  counted  as  such  ;  these  painted 
slabs  of  stone  are  therefore  the  only  real  easel-paintings  which  have  come 
down  to  us  from  classical  antiquity. 

To  the  earliest  discoveries  at  Herculaneum  belong  four  marble  slabs 
adorned  with  outline  drawings  in  red,  and  now  in  the  museum  at  Naples.^^ 
On  the  finest  of  those  a  Greek,  nay  more,  an  Athenian  artist,  has  signed 
his  name,  Alexandres.  He  is  a  master  not  otherwise  known.  The  picture 
consists  of  a  fine  group  of  five  women,  whose  names  are  also  inscribed, — with- 
out, however,  enabling  us  to  explain  the  scene.  The  second  of  these  tablets 
shows  a  naked  hero,  probably  Theseus,  engaged  in  victorious  conflict  with  a 
Centaur,  The  third  represents  a  scene  which  has  been  differently  explained 
by  almost  every  archaeologist  who  has  discussed  it  ;  the  principal  figure  is 
certainly  Seilenos,  who  sits  drinking  under  a  tree,  while  a  female  figure  stands 
behind  him,  and  another  beside  an  ass  in  front.  The  fourth  slab  contains  a 
scene  from  a  play,  with  three  figures  wearing  the  tragic  mask.  The  drawings 
on  the  first  three  of  these  slabs  are  among  the  finest  that  have  been  preserved 
from  the  ancient  world.  Though  somewhat  uncertain  in  the  execution  of  the 
details,  they  exhibit  motives  of  the  highest  beauty. 

The  vexed  question  whether  these  pictures  are  in  their  original  condition 
and  were  therefore  from  the  first  designed  as  mere  red  outlines  on  a  white 
ground,  or  whether  they  represent  only  the  preparatory  drawings  which  have 
stood  while  the  general  colours  of  the  painting  have  perished,  may  now  be 
looked  upon  as  decided  by  the  fact  that  a  further  marble  slab  was  found  at 
Pompeii  in  1872,  which  shows  within  similar  red  outlines  the  perfectly  distinct 
remains  of  a  complete  painting  m  colours.  This  beautiful  work  represents  in 
a  stately  temple  the  punishment  of  Niobe,  the  daughter  of  Tantalos  (Fig.  25). 
The  overweening  mother  is  seen  in  profile,  and  here,  as  in  the  famous  Florentine 
group,  she  lifts  her  face  towards  heaven  with  an  expression  of  mingled  anguish 
and  defiance  ;  as  in  that  group  also,  the  youngest  daughter  has  flown  to  her  for 
refuge  ;  while  the  old  nurse  stoops  forward  to  sustain  the  elder  daughter,  who 
is  fast  sinking  to  the  ground.  The  colours  of  this  picture  have  nearly  vanished 
in  the  few  years  that  have  passed  since  its  excavation.^" 

Paintings  on  slabs  of  slate  have  also  been  found  in  Etruscan  tombs ;  and 
a  small  slab  of  this  kind  with  the  bust  and  head  of  a  charming  female  figure 
wearing  a  wreath,  formerly  believed  to  be  a  Muse,  is  preserved  in  the  museum 
at  Cortona.  The  head  has  touches  of  a  Raphaelcsquc  grace  in  form  and  expres- 
sion. Its  authenticity  is  not  altogether  beyond  doubt  ,  but  it  seems  to  us  all  the 
more  probably  genuine  inasmuch  as  we  cannot  see  in  it  the  traces  of  any  indi- 


lOO 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


vidual  and  recognisable  modern  hand.  The  work  is  also  interesting  on  account 
of  the  vehicle  of  which  the  artist  has  made  use,  if  indeed  this  is  rightly 
described  as  being  a  mixture  of  resin  and  wax.^^ 


Fig.  25. 

We  must  mention  in  this  connection  the  splendid  paintings  on  the  four  faces  of 
a  large  alabaster  sarcophagus  found  within  the  last  ten  years  in  a  tomb  at  Corneto, 
and  now  in  the  museum  at  Florence.  The  subject  is  a  fight  of  Amazons.  On 
the  finest  of  the  longer  faces  of  the  sarcophagus  the  Amazons  are  charging  in  two 
four-horse  chariots,  one  from  either  side,  against  the  foe  ;  on  the  opposite  face, 
which  is  damaged,  one  Amazon  at  least  fights  on  horseback  ;  at  the  two  ends 
they  are  shown  fighting  on  foot.  The  compositions  are  of  the  severest  kind  ; 
the  centre  of  each  picture  first  arresting  the  eye,  and  the  groups  being  arranged 
on  each  side  with  complete  symmetry.      So  little  question  is  there  of  foreground 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  .    .     ,,,>  .  j,qi 

or  background,  that  the  several  figures  are  kept  almost  clear  of  one  another  on 
the  same  plane,  and  their  contours  arc  only  very  occasionally  allowed  to  cross 
or  overlap.  In  spite  of  this,  every  group  is  instinct  with  fire  and  spirit,  and 
the  forms  and  expressions  belong  to  a  period  of  completely  developed  artistic 
freedom.  That  symmetrical  formality  of  composition  is  evidently  chosen  de- 
liberately, because  it  seemed  suitable  for  the  decorative  purpose  of  the  work. 
The  colouring  is  of  a  corresponding  character.  The  figures  on  the  sides  stand 
out  on  a  lilac  ground,  those  at  the  two  ends  on  a  ground  of  black  ;  their  colours 
are  simple,  but  brilliant  and  of  an  enchanting  harmony.^^ 

The  place  of  discovery  of  this  sarcophagus,  and  the  Etruscan  character 
of  its  inscriptions,  leave  no  doubt  that  it  is  a  work  of  native  art-industry. 
Although  the  influence  of  Greek  feeling  is  perceptible  in  every  line,  there  is 
scarcely  any  ground  for  ascribing  the  execution  to  a  Greek  hand.  We  may 
regard  these  pictures,  which  no  one  can  look  at  without  wonder  and  admira- 
tion, as  the  most  perfect  examples  that  have  come  down  to  us  of  Etruscan 
painting  penetrated  through  and  through  by  the  Greek  spirit.  Their  date  may 
be  set  down  as  the  third  century  B.C. 

IV,  Miniatures. — Under  the  title  of  miniatures  the  history  of  art  under- 
stands all  illustrations  of  manuscripts.  That  this  branch  of  art,  so  nearly  related 
to  caligraphy.  is  ver}'  ancient,  we  have  learnt  from  the  instance  of  Egyptian 
papyrus  rolls  already  noticed.  Similar  illustrations  to  the  text  of  manuscripts 
were  known  to  the  scribes  of  the  Greco-Roman  world.  We  know  that  doctors 
and  architects  were  in  the  habit  of  adding  explanatory  illustrations  to  their 
scientific  works,  and  that  Marcus  Varro,  for  instance,  adorned  his  great  biogra- 
phical work,  the  Imagines,  with  seven  hundred  portraits  of  Greek  and  Roman 
celebrities. 

The  only  classic  miniatures  which  now  exist  have  their  origin  in  the  de- 
cadence of  Greco-Roman  art.  As  this  is  not  the  place  to  speak  of  Christian 
manuscripts,  even  when  they  belong  to  the  period  and  the  artistic  tradition  with 
which  we  are  properly  concerned,  we  have  only  to  mention  briefly  the  most  im- 
portant existing  illustrations  of  Greek  and  Roman  poetical  works. 

The  most  purely  classical  forms  and  motives  are  those  which  we  find  in 
the  set  of  fifty-eight  miniatures  cut  from  a  lost  manuscript  of  the  Iliad,  whicli 
probably  dated  from  the  fourth  or  fifth  century  a.D.,  and  is  preserved  in  the 
Ambrosian  Library  at  Milan.*^  The  illustrations  follow  the  text  from  the  first 
book  to  the  last.  The  compositions  are  feebly  distributed  amongst  the  land- 
scape backgrounds,  which  are  often  wide  and  scattered.  The  single  forms  and 
the  actions  are  also  crude  and  awkward,  but  the  draperies  are  still  treated  in  a 
completely  antique  manner,  and  the  broad  full  colouring  shows  the  remains  of 
true  pictorial  feeling. 

Next  to  these  examples  may  be  placed  those  of  an  approximately  con- 
temporary period,  the   codex    3225    of  Virgil   in  the  Vatican   containing  fifty 

UWraSlTY  OF  CALIFCRWIA 


ip2,  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

'  '  ' 

pictures  illustrating  partly  the  Bucolics  and  Georgics  and  partly  the  yEneid. 
In  some  of  these  landscape  bears  the  chief  part.  The  figures  are  stunted,  the 
heads  expressionless  with  large  staring  eyes.  The  colouring  is  thickly  laid 
on,  and  the  high  lights  put  in  with  gold.  A  much  later  manuscript  of  Virgil 
in  the  Vatican  Library  is  another  numbered  z'^^7.  It  contains  sixteen  paintings 
which  even  in  the  costumes  already  betray  influences  of  the  Middle  Age  ;  the 
drawing  is  bad  and  devoid  of  character.^* 

On  the  other  hand,  the  manuscript  of  Terence  in  the  Vatican  Library  is 
famous.  At  the  beginning  of  each  play  there  is  a  painting  of  masks  set  up  in 
rows  under  a  portico  sustained  by  two  columns,  but  various  scenes  of  the  action 
are  depicted  in  illustrations  let  into  the  text.  The  names  are  written  over  the 
personages.  These  pictures  are  considered  to  be  imitations,  done  in  the  ninth 
century,  of  classical  Roman  originals.  The  Terence  of  the  BibliotJieqiie  Nationale 
at  Paris  is  scarcely  later.^^  But  even  the  miniatures  of  a  twelfth  century  manu- 
script of  the  same  author  in  the  Bodleian  at  Oxford  still  show  repetitions  of 
earlier  motives  with  a  touch  of  mediaeval  character.  The  miniatures  of  a 
Nicander  preserved  in  the  BibliotJieqtie  Nationale  are  held  on  the  other  hand 
to  be  copies  after  originals  of  the  third  and  fourth  centuries.^^ 

Little  as  such  works  as  these  may  satisfy  the  fastidious  eye  of  a  period 
rich  in  works  of  mature  art,  they  have  nevertheless  a  great  historical  interest 
as  representing  the  last  offshoots  of  the  artistic  practice  of  antiquity. 


CHAPTER  V. 
Existing  Remains  concluded — Mural  Paintings. 

Mural  paintings  in  general — Etruria — The  archaic  period — Contending  native  and  Greek  influences — Ex- 
amples at  Veil,  Ccere,  Corneto,  and  Chiusi ;  extending  probably  from  the  sixth  to  the  fourth  Century  B.C. 
— Free  period  ;  third  Century  K.c. — Native  and  Greek  influences  still  in  rivalry — Examples  at  Orvieto 
and  Vulci — Toniba  dell'  ono  at  Corneto  ;  its  paintings  both  in  the  free  and  in  the  late  or  Etrusco-Roman 
style — Other  examples  of  the  Etrusco-Roman  style — Rome  and  its  Neighbourhood — Relative 
number  and  importance  of  wall-paintings  found  here — Account  given  of  the  art  by  Vitruvius — Fanciful 
style  which  he  condemns  jiievalent  in  existing  remains — Paintings  which  have  perished  since  their 
discovery — Examples  from  toml)s  ;  from  baths  ;  from  villas — Conclusions  from  them — Paintings  still  pre- 
served in  collections  or  in  situ — The  Lateran,  Rospigliosi,  and  Albani  collections — Vatican  collections  ; 
the  Aldobrandini  Marriage  and  the  Odyssey  landscapes — Fragments  in  foreign  museums — Roman  wall- 
paintings  in  si/it ;  villas — Liindscapes  attributed  to  Ludius  at  the  Villa  ad  Galli)ias — Paintings  in  the 
house  of  Livia  on  the  Palatine — New  discoveries  in  the  Farnesina  Gardens — General  result — Lower 
Italy — Magna  Gr?ecia  ;  P;vsUim — Tiie  buried  cities  of  Campania  ;  wall-paintings  i)i  situ  and  in  the 
Naples  museum— Tlieir  abundance — Their  decorative  character  and  arrangement  compared  with  the 
account  of  Vitruvius — Division  according  to  decorative  character  and  arrangement;  first  group^Second 
group— Third  group — Fourth  group — Fifth  group — Division  according  to  subject ;  rude  devotional  or 
ritual  pieces  —  Mythology;  tales  of  the  gods  —  Mythology;  tales  of  the  heroes  —  Daily  life;  rude 
Romano-Campanian  works — ^^Daily  life  ;  refined  Hellenistic  works — Caricature — Landscape — Land- 
scape with  mythology — Still  life — Questions  concerning  the  painters  of  these  Campanian  wall-decora- 
tions— Their  position — Their  nationality — Their  technical  methods — Merit  of  their  works  as  independent 
pictures — As  examples  of  decorative  composition — As  examples  of  decorative  colour. 

Among  pictures  properly  so  called  which  have  come  down  to  us  from  anti- 
quit}-,  nniral  paintings  hold  beyond  comparison  the  most  important  place.  True, 
most  of  these  are  only  the  journeyman  work  of  house-decorators  ;  never- 
theless they  give  us  the  most  distinct  idea  of  the  progress  made  in  the  technical 
parts  of  painting  by  the  ancients,  and  the  great  numbers  in  which  the)-  have 
been  found  testify  clearly  to  the  delight  taken  by  those  nations  in  the  coloured 
ornaincntation  of  their  buildings.  Inasmuch,  however,  as  many  of  these  paintings 
have  perished  soon  after  their  excavation  from  the  effects  of  the  air,  we  must  not 
confine  ourselves  e.vclusively  to  those  which  still  exist,  but  must  also  occasion- 
ally consider  some  which,  though  found  during  the  last  few  centuries,  are  now 
onl)'  known  to  us  by  engravings. 

Scarcely  any  ancient  wall-paintings  of  note  have  come  to  light  elsewhere 
than  on  Italian  ground  ;  though  a  certain  niunbcr  of  insignificant  examples 
have  been  found  at  various  western  sites,  more  especially  Trier  {Trives)  ; 
perhaps    tlic  most   interesting   being   a  half-length  of  a  girl,  of  a  Bacchanalian 


104  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

character,  which    has   the    appearance   of  being   a  portion    cut   out   of  a  larger 
painting  of  Italian  origin  ;   this  is  now  in  private  possession  at  Cologne.^" 

Italian  wall-paintings  fall  naturally  into  three  principal  groups,  according 
to  the  places  of  their  discovery,  namely,  i,  Etruria,  2,  Rome  and  Central  Italy, 
3,  Lower  Italy  (especially  Campania). 

I. — Etruria. — To  our  own  century  belongs  the  re-discovery  of  the  ex- 
tensive cemeteries  of  the  cities  of  ancient  Etruria,  comprising  millions  of 
sepulchral  chambers,  thousands  of  which,  on  being  opened,  have  been  found  to 
be  furnished  with  vases,  mirrors,  toilet-caskets  and  vessels  of  all  kinds,  and  a 
certain  number  also  to  be  decorated  with  wall-paintings.  The  same  spirit  which 
laid  vases,  implements,  and  ornaments  in  the  vault  with  the  dead,  took  thought 
also  for  the  artistic  decoration  of  the  place  of  sepulture,  which  often  consisted  of 
several  distinct  chambers.  It  is  only,  however,  a  minority  of  the  Etruscan 
tombs  that  are  thus  decorated  with  paintings  ;  examples  so  decorated  have 
been  found  in  the  necropolis  of  Tarquinii  (near  the  Corneto  of  to-day),  in  that 
of  C^ere  (now  Cervetri),  in  Clusium  (now  Chiusi),  in  Vulci,  Veii,  and  Orvieto.^^ 

Few  of  these  wall-paintings  can  give  us  unmixed  delight  now  ;  but  they 
are  of  great  interest  in  the  history  of  art  as  examples  of  the  peculiar  Etruscan 
st\-le,  strongly  influenced  by  Greek  precedents,  yet  determined  by  the  current 
of  national  tendencies.  Moreover,  they  are .  the  only  class  of  mural  paintings 
which  enable  us  to  follow  the  art  in  an  almost  unbroken  continuity  from  its 
most  primitive  attempts  to  the  formlessness  of  the  decline.  The  oldest  examples 
are  those  in  the  so-called  Grotta  Campana  at  Veii.  In  four  spaces,  each  about 
5  I  inches  wide  by  32  to  38  inches  high,  and  each  surrounded  with  a  border,  we 
find  on  a  yellowish-grey  ground  primitive  pictures  of  men  riding  on  long-legged 
parti-coloured  horses,  and  behind  them  panthers  seated,  or  the  like.  The  sub- 
jects, as  well  as  the  ornamentation  and  the  coarse  decorative  style,  recall  the 
early  vases  of  the  Orientalising  type.  The  drawing  is  childish  beyond  belief, 
the  colouring  quite  arbitrary,  and  restricted  to  brown,  red,  and  yellow.  These 
are  the  only  wall-paintings  to  be  found  in  Italy  which  probably  date  from 
before  B.C.  500. 

Next  in  antiquity  follow  some  paintings  on  terra-cotta  plaques  found  in  a 
tomb  at  Caere.^^  They  are  examples  of  Etruscan  archaism,  which  aims  at  literal 
truth  to  nature  in  scenes  of  daily  life,  but  only  attains  it  within  the  limits 
imposed  by  very  scanty  technical  knowledge.  The  scenes  are  sometimes 
taken  from  the  worship  of  the  dead  ;  as  a  burial,  a  sacrifice,  a  procession  of 
men  and  women  moving  stiffly  and  awkwardly  from  either  side  towards  a 
variegated  altar  of  archaic  outline  in  the  midst.  A  winged  daemon  sometimes 
carries  the  deceased  in  its  arms.  The  composition  is  severely  symmetrical, 
and  like  that  of  a  bas-relief  The  forms  are  all  shown  in  profile,  the  eyes 
being  still  drawn  without  perspective,  as  if  seen  from  in  front  ;  the  proportions 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND   ITALY.  105 

are  squat  ;  the  figures  relieved  in  a  few  dull  colours,  as  reddish  brown,  yellowish 
brown,  yellow,  and  black,  from  the  white  ground.  The  women  are  painted 
lighter  than  the  men.  There  is  no  question  yet  of  modelling  or  shading.  In 
these  examples  we  thus  find  painting  at  about  the  same  stage  which  the  ancient 
writers  describe  as  having  preceded,  in  the  history  of  Greek  art  also,  the  stage 
reached  by  Kimon  of  Kleonai.  They  probably  belong  to  a  period  earlier  than 
B.C.  500. 

Placing  these  paintings  of  Veii  and  Caere  in  a  separate  class  as  the  most 
ancient  of  all,  we  must  next  turn  to  a  great  family  of  pictures  in  Etruscan  tombs 
which  are  marked  in  common  b}-  the  characters  of  the  cramped  archaic  style, 
but  which  subdivide  themselves  according  to  date  and  place  into  various  minor 
groups.  Among  these  groups,  one  is  shown  b}-  its  more  developed  style  to  be 
of  later  date  than  another  ;  one  shows  more  of  the  Greek,  and  another  more  of 
the  native  Etruscan  influence.  The  chief  examples  of  the  entire  family  are  fur- 
nished by  the  tombs  of  Corneto  and  Chiusi.  On  the  whole,  the  native  realism 
tends  to  prevail  in  the  earlier,  the  Greek  idealism  in  the  later  examples  of 
this  general  class.  The  subjects  belong  in  all  cases  to  the  same  somewhat 
narrow  cycle.  In  decorating  the  tomb,  the  artist  has  limited  himself  to  what 
lay  nearest  at  hand,  and  has  dealt  almost  exclusively  with  the  worship  of  the 
dead.  The  laying  out  of  the  body,  sacrifices  in  honour  of  the  departed,  the 
games  which  form  part  of  his  funeral  ceremonies — these  are  constantly  recur- 
ring themes  ;  and  again  feasts,  and  companies  of  men  and  ^\'omen  enjoying 
themselves  in  festal  dances  among  verdant  trees  and  flowers  to  the  sound 
of  h-re  or  flute, —  subjects  intended  most  likely  to  shadow  forth  the  existence 
of  the  deceased  in  paradise. 

There  are  at  Corneto  three  tombs  which  exhibit  the  native  archaic  st}-le 
in  its  most  characteristic  form.  These  are — (i).  The  Grotta  del  Morto  :^^  here 
the  corpse  is  depicted  on  one  wall  lying  on  the  bier,  while  relations  enshroud 
and  weep  over  it.  The  other  walls  are  adorned  with  scenes  of  mirth  and 
dancing.  The  drawing  is  archaic  but  spirited,  and  the  scale  of  colours  does  not 
go  beyond  red,  black,  grey,  and  white.  (2).  The  Grotta  dell'  Iscrizioni  :^^  the 
subjects  here  are  hunting  and  dancing,  with  races,  athletic  games,  and  dice 
play,  also  lions,  deer,  and  leopards  :  the  colours  are  various  and  fanciful  ; 
a  stag,  for  instance,  appears  striped  like  a  harlequin,  and  of  the  lions'  manes 
one  is  yellow  and  the  other  blue.  Plain  red  posts  stand  for  trees.  The  men 
wear  only  loin-cloths,  and  their  movements  are  full  of  life.  (3).  The  Grotta 
del  Barone  .-^^  a  simple  frieze  containing  figures  of  divinities  well  designed  on 
a  large  scale,  and  represented  as  distributing  the  prizes  of  victory.  The  colours 
arc  lively,  and  the  trees  have  blue-green  leaves  attached  to  their  red  stems. 
The  style  is  better  than  in  the  former  instances,  and  full  of  individual  life  in 
spite  of  its  archaic  severity.  On  the  whole,  in  the  decoration  of  these  tombs 
the  art  of  painting  presents   itself  still    in   a  primitive  stage.      True,  the  artist 

P 


io6  PIISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

occasionally  tries  to  vary  the  profile  of  his  figures  by  introducing  one  in  front 
view,  and  he  everywhere  strives  after  the  characters  of  natural  portraiture  and 
living  movement ;  but  the  conscientious  strenuousness  of  the  early  style  is  still 
paramount. 

To  the  same  style  belong  essentially  the  decorations  of  (4)  the  Grotta  del 
Vecchio}^  The  very  beautiful  paintings  of  (5)  the  so-called  Grotta  dei  Vasi 
Dipinti^^  mark,  on  the  other  hand,  the  transition  of  a  later  group.  On  the  one 
wall  we  see  figures  full  of  modesty  and  charm  reclining  like  brother  and  sister 
at  the  meal,  and  on  the  other  a  dance  beneath  the  myrtles.  The  details,  such 
as  the  dog  under  the  couch,  are  handled  with  affectionate  care.  The  complete 
mastery  of  form  and  freedom  of  outline  shown  in  this  elegantly  archaic  style 
seems  to  point  to  a  Greek  influence. 

In  the  next  group  of  tombs  at  Corneto,  in  which  the  paintings  illus- 
trate a  further  change  of  transition  from  rigidity  to  freedom,  the  Greek 
influence  is  unmistakable,  though  the  national  realism  of  the  Etruscans 
continues  from  time  to  time  to  react.  The  phases  of  this  action  and  re- 
action between  Greek  example  and  native  instinct  are  somewhat  involved,  so 
that  it  would  be  hazardous  to  base  upon  the  evidences  of  style  an  exact  chrono- 
logical succession  for  the  various  tombs.  While  the  forms  are  everywhere 
freer  and  nobler,  the  actions  more  measured,  the  draperies  more  richly  folded, 
the  system  of  colour  is  still  uncertain.  Nature  and  freshness  on  the  whole  gain 
ground.  The  lips  are  painted  red,  and  in  some  cases  even  the  redness  of  the 
cheek  is  indicated  upon  the  lighter  tint  of  the  skins  of  women  ;  the  ground  is 
usually  white,  but  in  one  instance  brown.  In  most  of  the  pictures  the  person- 
ages wear  garlands  in  the  Greek  fashion.  If  the  former  group  of  tombs  prob- 
ably belongs  to  the  fifth  century  B.C.,  these  may  be  ascribed  to  the  fourth. 
The  best  of  them  illustrate  that  stage  of  art's  progress  which  we  are  accustomed 
to  associate  with  the  name  of  Polygnotos.  But  if  the  advance  of  technical 
knowledge  in  Etruscan  painting  on  the  whole  ran  parallel  with  that  of  Greece, 
still  we  have  every  reason  to  suppose  that  the  innovations  of  any  one  of  the 
famous  Greek  masters  would  have  taken  at  least  half  a  century  before  it  made 
its  way  into  the  practice  of  the  decorators  of  the  tombs  of  Etruria. 

Our  last  group  comprises  the  following  principal  tombs: — (i).  the  Grotta 
del  Citaredo^^  so  called  from  the  figure  of  a  citharcedus,  or  lute-player,  of  singular 
beauty,  which  appears  in  a  dancing  scene  upon  its  walls.  The  eyes  are  still 
painted  without  regard  to  perspective  ;  the  upper  part  of  the  thigh  is  still 
unnaturally  strong;  the  gestures  are  still  too  vehement,  but  the  figures  have  lost 
something  of  their  Etruscan  realism.  The  Greek  ideal  is  making  its  way.  (2). 
The  Grotta  del  Triclinio^'^  on  the  side  walls  of  which  is  a  company  of  dancers, 
the  men  painted  dark  and  the  women  light,  who  disport  themselves  in  lively 
movements  under  trees  of  various  kinds,  upon  which  perch  many-coloured  birds. 
On  the  rear  wall  is  painted  a  banquet.      The  colours  are  still  in  some  degree 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY. 


107 


conventional,  and  being  distributed  in  regular  and  equal  interchange,  give  a 
decorative  unity  to  the  general  effect.  The  treatment  of  the  forms  is  excep- 
tionally archaic,  but  the  careful  refinement  and  precision  of  the  execution  give 
to  this  group  the  most  pleasing  appearance  among  them  all.  (3).  The  Grotta 
della  Querciola}*  In  one  tier  is  represented  a  luxurious  feast,  in  another  a  boar- 
hunt  in  a  wood  —  the  wood  being  indicated  by  a  {q\\  sparse  trees  (Fig.  26). 
The  conflict  between  the  native  art  and  the  invading  genius  of  Greece  is 
thought  to  be  especially  exemplified  in  these  works.  (4).  The  Grotia  del 
Corso  dcllc  BigJie^^      Here  are  represented  sports,  dances,  races,  and  junketings. 


FifT.  26. 

The  chariots  are  drawn  by  pairs  of  horses  of  which  the  colours  are  blue  or 
green,  and  red  ;  the  drawing  is  remarkably  free  ;  and  the  draughtsman  seems 
to  have  deliberately  adopted  a  treatment  more  archaic  than  was  natural  to  him. 
Thus  the  tombs  of  Corneto  give  us  a  good  general  view  of  the  character  of 
Etruscan  tomb-decoration  in  the  archaic  period.  Those  of  Chiusi  illustrate 
the  art  in  a  somewhat  different  course  of  development  ;^''  since  here  we  find  one 
school' which  from  the  first  loves  to  follow  Greek  models,  and  side  bv  side  with 
it,  in  different  tombs,  another  school  which  maintains  a  decisive!}^  indcpentlent 
national  character.  Perhaj^JS  the  earliest  of  all  these  paintings  in  which  it  is 
to  be  noted  that  the  eye  is  rightly  drawn  in  profile  are  those  of  the  so-calletl 
"Tomb  of  1833"  at  Chiusi,  which  belongs  to  the  time  of  the  disappearance  of 


io8 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


archaism.      But  space  fails   us  to  discuss  more  fully  the  decorations  of  these 
and  some  kindred  sepulchral  chambers. 

The  love  of  adorning  the  walls  of  sepulchral  chambers  with  paintings  by 
no  means  ceased,  however,  in  Etruria  with  the  archaic  period.  Distinguished 
from  all  the  examples  above  mentioned,  we  find  at  le^st  as  numerous  a  series 
belonging  to  the  time  of  the  fullest  freedom  of  art,  which  in  this  country  can- 
not certainly  have  begun  before  the  third  century  B.C.  In  this  period  we  find 
the  native  school — in  v/hich,  with  its  inherent  realism,  freedom  soon  tends 
to  degenerate  into  coarseness  —  holding  its  own  on  equal  terms  against  a 
not  less  decisive  current  of  Hellenistic  tendency.  The  two  opposing  prin- 
ciples assert  themselves  sometimes  in  separate  pictures  wherein  the  one  or  the 


Fig.  27. 

other  prevails  exclusively  ;  sometimes — and  these  are  the  most  instructive 
instances — in  one  and  the  same  picture.  The  works  of  this  mixed  character 
are  in  some  sort  akin  to  the  creations  of  that  Tuscan  school  of  the  Renascence 
which  flourished  on  the  same  soil  sixteen  or  seventeen  centuries  later,  and 
which  in  like  manner  sought  to  bring  its  own  realistic  feeling  for  form  into 
harmony  with  the  results  of  its  renewed  study  of  classical  antiquity.  The 
sepulchral  decorations  of  this  free  style  are  very  clearly  marked  by  the  know- 
ledge of  the  human  form  exhibited  in  them,  by  their  command  of  all  varieties  of 
action,  their  ability  to  represent  figures  in  the  desired  foreshortening,  their  re- 
production of  the  true  colours  of  nature,  and  often  also  their  modelling  in  light 
and  shade.  It  is  particularly  worthy  of  remark  that,  in  accordance  with  the 
ever-growing  Hellenism  of  the  age,  the  creations  of  Greek  mythology  begin 
also  at  this  time  to  find  a  place  among  the  paintings  of  Etruscan  tombs. 

We   can   only  call   attention   to   a   few  of  the  most   important  examples. 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  109 

Passing  by  the  two  sepulchral  chambers  opened  by  Conestabile  at  Orvieto  in 
1863,"'^  the  later  of  which  shows  clearly  the  work  of  two  different  hands,  let  us 
turn  at  once  to  the  most  interesting  and  characteristic  works  of  the  epoch  in 
question.  Several  of  the  tombs  of  Vulci  belong  emphatically  to  this  class,  and 
in  the  first  rank  the  great  tomb,  composed  of  seven  different  chambers,  which 
was  opened  by  Francois  in  1857.^^  In  several  of  the  chambers  we  find  pictures 
of  various  scenes  of  Greek  mythology — the  Rape  of  Kassandra,  Polyneikes  and 
Eteokles,  Nestor  and  Phoinix.  The  most  significant  works,  however,  are  those 
in  the  square  chamber  at  the  end  of  the  tomb.  On  one  side  is  represented  a 
human  sacrifice,  such  as  was  long  customary  in  Etruria  at  funeral  ceremonies. 
Naked  and  half-naked  men  of  native  Etruscan  type,  most  of  them  bearded  and 
with  individual  and  often  repulsive  features,  are  seen  stabbing  with  swords  their 
victims,  who  writhe  in  gestures  of  terror  and  entreaty.  On  the  other  side,  as 
in  some  sort  the  prototype  and  justification  of  the  former  scene,  we  see  the 
legendary  human  sacrifices  paid  by  Achilles  before  Troy  to  the  shades  of  his 
friend  Patroklos.  Charon,  armed  according  to  the  Etruscan  conception  with  a 
hammer,  stands  ready  to  receive  the  sacrifice  prepared  for  him.  In  this  great 
group  the  types  of  face  are  more  classical  than  those  of  the  Etruscans  on  the 
other  side.  But  the  Etruscan  language  is  used  for  the  inscriptions,  which 
specify  the  names  of  Agamemnon,  Achilles,  and  the  rest.  Of  all  the  existing 
works  of  antiquity,  none  reminds  us  so  much  as  this  of  modern  realistic  art  ; 
we  might  imagine  ourselves  to  be  looking  at  a  picture  painted  in  the  spirit  of 
Andrea  del  Castagno.  The  expressions  of  the  various  faces,  the  trickling 
blood,  the  agonised  movements,  are  rendered  with  a  realism  almost  appalling. 
Since,  nevertheless,  the  human  forms  are  treated  on  a  foundation  of  Greek 
principle,  the  result  of  these  pictures  is  not  only  to  make  us  shudder  but  also 
to  hold  us  with  a  spell  of  power. 

Among  the  tombs  of  Corneto,  the  most  interesting  example  of  this  free 
period  of  art  is  one  only  excavated  in  1868.  This  is  the  so-called  Toinha  del 
Oreo  ;'''"  it  consists  of  three  chambers,  and  all  three  must  have  been  decorated 
by  different  artists.  The  first  exhibits  on  one  side  one  of  the  usual  banquet 
scenes,  and  on  the  other  side  a  sacrifice  to  the  dead  in  preparation.  The 
Etruscan  Charon,  the  d;emon  of  the  under  world,  is  there  with  his  attributes  of 
wings  and  hammer  ;  iiis  flesh  is  greenish,  his  nose  long  and  sharp,  and  he 
gnashes  his  teeth  grinning.  It  is  remarkable  that  in  the  banquet  scene  the 
figures  are  surrounded  with  a  dark  blue  border,  intended  partly  no  doubt  to 
relieve  their  light  colouring  from  the  sombre  ground,  but  partly  also  to  suggest 
the  shadows  of  the  king-dom  of  tlarkncss.  Although  this  chamber  seems  to  be 
the  earliest  of  the  three,  its  paintings  belong  to  the  time  of  free  art.  The 
forcshortenings  of  both  bodies  and  faces  arc  skilfully  treated,  the  brush-work 
has  breadth  and  pictorial  qualit\-  ;  tiie  only  thing  wanting  is  completeness  of 
chiaroscuro   modelling,  although  the  high  lights  are  left  to  stand  out  in  white. 


no  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

Most  important  for  their  subjects  are  the  paintings  of  the  second  chamber  ; 
they  represent  the  whole  kingdom  of  the  dead,  with  Pluto  and  Persephone 
presiding  on  the  northward  wall,  and  besides  them,  on  the  same  or  other  walls, 
the  whole  series  of  the  daemons  and  heroes  who  according  to  immemorial 
Greek  tradition  were  the  denizens  of  the  realm  of  Hades.  The  treatment,  at 
least  that  of  the  principal  personages,  bespeaks  a  brush  working  with  perfect 
freedom  and  in  complete  command  of  chiaroscuro.  The  sepulchral  paintings 
of  Etruria  can  certainly  not  have  reached  the  perfection  which  we  here  observe 
before  the  days  of  Apelles.  The  third  chamber  is  evidently  much  later  still. 
In  a  niche  we  see  Ulysses  in  the  act  of  boring  out  the  eye  of  the  Cyclops 
Polyphemos.  The  style  is  not  only  perfectly  free,  but  lax  even  to  caricature. 
We  may  refer  it  to  the  Roman  time,  especially  since  its  treatment  corresponds 
with  that  of  a  grim  winged  typhon  painted  in  another  tomb,  the  so-called 
Grotta  del  Tifone,  discovered  in  1832,  which  by  its  surroundings  we  know  to 
be  Etrusco-Roman.^^ 

According  to  Helbig,  there  is  a  third  sepulchral  chamber  which  ought  to 
be  reckoned  among  this  series — that,  namely,  lately  opened  by  the  Countess 
Bruschi.  Tarquinii  had  become  a  Roman  municipal  town,  and  Etruscan  art, 
as  Brunn  says,  had  undergone  like  Etruscan  polity  the  influence  of  Rome. 
In  the  earliest  days  of  the  Empire,  the  Greco-Roman  style  of  wall-painting,  as 
we  find  it  represented  in  innumerable  examples  at  Rome  and  Pompeii,  extended 
itself  over  the  whole  of  Italy.  The  last-named  group  of  Etruscan  wall-paint- 
ings shows  that  the  influence  of  the  same  style  had  penetrated  to  that  branch 
of  art  also.  The  mural  pictures  of  Etruria  are  thus  the  only  class  of  remains 
in  which  we  can  trace  the  development  of  the  art  of  painting  continuously 
through  all  its  phases.  Nothing  more  need  be  said  to  prove  their  importance 
in  the  history  of  art. 

II. — Rome  and  its  Neighbourhood. — The  mural  paintings  of  Rome 
offer  to  the  student  an  interest  almost  exactly  contrasted  with  that  offered  by 
the  same  class  of  monuments  in  Etruria.  The  characteristic  of  the  Etruscan 
work  is  monotony  of  subject  together  with  variety  of  style — that  variety  which 
results  from  continuous  historical  development.  The  paintings  on  the  walls  of 
Roman  buildings,  on  the  other  hand,  belong  almost  exclusively  to  a  single 
period,  namely  the  last  days  of  the  Republic  and  of  the  Empire  ;  they  illustrate 
only  the  completely  Hellenised  stage  of  Roman  art  ;  and  their  charm  lies  in 
the  multifarious  interest  of  their  subjects  and  beauty  of  their  motives. 

The  number  of  wall-paintings  which  have  been  excavated  in  or  about 
Rome,  from  the  days  of  Leo  X.  to  our  own,  is  very  considerable.  Some  of 
them  have  been  found  in  tombs,  but  the  greater  part  on  the  walls  of  villas, 
palaces,  and  baths.  The  majority  of  the  whole  number  have  perished  since 
their  discovery,  and  their  lineaments   are  only  preserv^ed    in  engravings.      Most 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  m 

of  those  which  still  remain  have  only  been  brought  to  light  in  the  course  of  the 
present  century.  In  comparison  with  the  multitudes  of  similar  paintings  found 
at  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii,  those  which  belong  to  Rome  itself  possess,  in 
the  history  of  art,  a  value  upon  which  enough  stress  is  not  usually  laid. 

The  architect  Vitruvius,  who  lived  about  the  time  of  Augustus,  gives  us  a 
short  sketch  of  the  history  of  mural  decoration  from  the  Alexandrian  a^-e.^^  He 
speaks  with  regret  of  a  change  which  had  come  over  the  style  of  these  paintings 
in  his  own  time,  that  is,  in  the  early  days  of  the  Empire.  At  first,  he  says,  the 
custom  of  wall-painters  had  been  to  imitate  marble  incrustations,  in  combination 
sometimes  with  architectural  members.  Later,  but  still  in  the  good  old  time, 
it  had  been  the  fashion  to  paint  upon  the  walls  imitation  buildings,  columns,  and 
pediments  ;  adorning,  for  instance,  open  chambers  with  backgrounds,  corridors 
with  landscapes,  other  places  with  mythological  subjects;  in  a  word,  it  had  been 
usual  to  decorate  walls  with  pictures  corresponding  to  things  really  existing 
in  nature,  "  But,"  continues  Vitruvius,  "  the  objects  which  the  ancients  took 
for  their  models  from  reality,  are  despised  by  the  corrupted  fashion  of  the 
present  day.  We  now-a-days  see  upon  our  walls  not  so  much  copies  of  actual 
things  as  fantastic  monstrosities  ;  thus  reeds  take  the  place  of  c(jlumns  in  a 
design,  ribboned  and  streamered  ornaments,  with  curling  leaves  and  spiral 
tendrils,  take  the  place  of  pediments  ;  diminutive  temples  are  supported  upon 
candelabra,  vegetable  shapes  spring  from  the  tops  of  pediments  and  send 
forth  multitudes  of  delicate  stems  with  twining  tendrils  and  figures  seated 
meaninglessly  among  them  ;  nay,  from  the  very  flowers  which  the  stalks 
sustain  are  made  to  issue  demi-figures  having  the  heads  sometimes  of  human 
beings  and  sometimes  of  brutes." 

The  development  of  fashion  in  mural  decoration  thus  described  as  having 
taken  place  in  the  Greco-Roman  world,  we  are  able  to  follow  in  the  extant  ex- 
amples of  the  Campanian  cities  as  well  as  in  those  of  Rome.  Most,  indeed,  of  the 
paintings  of  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii  exhibit,  as  wc  should  have  expected  from 
their  date,  the  later  grotesque  style  with  which  Vitru\'ius  finds  fault  so  bitterly. 
Along  with  these,  however,  we  find  isolated  examples  of  the  older,  and  some, 
indeed,  which  seem  to  correspond  to  the  oldest,  manner  which  his  words  describe. 
In  Rome,  on  the  other  hand,  wc  are  enabled  to  trace  clearly,  and  in  very  character- 
istic examples,  a  middle  phase  in  the  history  of  the  art — a  transition,  that  is,  from 
the  fashion  of  covering  the  space  to  Ix;  decorated  with  imitations  of  architectural 
masses  and  divisions,  to  the  more  modern  fashions  of  fantastic  patterns  and 
devices.  The  latter,  the  grotesque  system  of  decoration,  was  exemplified  on  the 
walls  of  the  ruins  of  the  Golden  House  of  Nero,  beneath  the  ll.ilhs  of  Titus. 
These  decorations,  which  receive  their  name  of  "  grotesc[ue  "  from  the  grottoes 
or  excavated  chambers  where  they  were  found,  were  seen  and  copied  by 
Raphael  and  Giovanni  da  Udine,  who  transplanted  the  method  to  the  l(\i^,^'ie 
of  the  Vatican  I'alace.      The   earlier   and  scx-erer   st}-Ie,  which  depicted   on  the 


112  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

wall  architectural  structures  capable  of  real  support  and  resistance,  is  illustrated 
in  the  painted  pillars  which  divide  the  series  of  Odyssey  landscapes  discovered 
in  I  848-50,  on  the  Esquiline  at  Rome  (see  below,  p.  i  i  5  sqq.);  the  mere  subjects 
of  this  series  show  that  it  belongs  to  the  first  of  the  classes  mentioned  by 
Vitruvius.  On  the  other  hand,  the  pictures  in  the  House  of  Livia,  discovered 
in  1869  on  the  Palatine,  belong  to  a  mixed  style  between  the  naturalistic  and 
the  fantastic  manner  ;  while  the  painted  pilasters  of  a  mural  decoration  lately 
unearthed  on  the  Ouirinal  present  again  a  more  strictly  architectural  effect.^^ 

Pictures  properly  so  called  seldom  occupy  the  whole  surface  of  a  wall,  but 
usually  form  component  parts  of  a  scheme  of  decoration  architecturally  sub- 
divided ;  and  in  the  lightest  kind  of  work  such  pictures  are  simply  let  in  like 
framed  vignettes.  Their  artistic  value  can  only  be  estimated  in  connection  with 
the  scheme  of  which  they  form  a  part ;  but  in  this  connection  it  is  better  to  post- 
pone their  discussion  until  we  come  to  the  Pompeian  examples,  which  are  much 
more  numerous  than  the  Roman,  For  the  present,  then,  let  us  limit  ourselves 
to  some  of  the  most  important  wall-paintings  in  Rome  and  its  neighbourhood, 
considered  as  pictures  only,  and  without  reference  to  their  place  in  a  larger 
decorative  scheme. 

For  a  review  of  the  paintings  recovered,  but  afterwards  again  lost,  in 
and  about  Rome  from  the  times  of  the  Renascence  to  our  own,  the  old 
publications  on  the  subject  furnish  our  only  available  materials.  To  deal 
with  these  materials  in  detail  would  be  beyond  our  present  scope.  Besides, 
the  figures  given  in  the  books  in  question  are  not  always  free  from  suspicion. 
Pietro  Santo  Bartoli,  for  instance,  an  antiquarian  who  did  good  service  in  the 
latter  half  of  the  seventeenth  century  in  engraving  and  publishing  the  remains 
of  early  Roman  paintings,  has  been  suspected,  not  without  reason,  of  having 
made  his  very  numerous  drawings  (which  were  engraved  and  made  public 
for  the  first  time  after  his  death)  useless  for  the  purposes  of  strict  historical 
study  by  taking  too  great  liberties  in  interpreting  and  adding  to  the  originals. 
We  must,  nevertheless,  pause  long  enough  for  a  glance  at  the  general  results  of 
this  branch  of  exploration.^*^ 

Among  places  of  sepulture  where  such  paintings  have  been  found,  a  special 
importance  attaches  to  the  Tomb  of  the  Nasones,  among  the  chief  adornments 
of  which  may  be  mentioned  a  great  Judgment  of  Paris  in  an  extensive  land- 
scape, a  tiger  hunt,  a  boar  hunt,  and  a  stag  hunt  ;  and  the  pyramid  of  Sestius, 
in  which  were  some  very  graceful  single  figures  of  girls,  one  reading,  one  play- 
ing the  double  flute,  one  dancing  to  the  tambourine,  and  so  forth.  Among 
great  public  buildings,  the  Baths  are  those  which  have  yielded  the  principal 
remains  of  this  kind.  In  the  baths  of  Titus  great  and  small  paintings  of 
all  sorts  have  been  found,  and  several  dozens  of  them  published.  Among 
these  are  scenes  of  Greek  mythology,  as  Dionysos  accompanied  by  Muses, 
the   parting    of  Hippolytos    and    Phaidra,   and   Ares    with   Aphrodite,   as   well 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  113 

as  scenes  which  were  rightly  or  wrongly  referred  to  Roman  history,  as  Mars 
appearing  to  Rhea  Silvia,  and  Coriolanus  taking  leave  of  his  mother.  But 
more  numerous  than  either  of  these  classes  were  incidents  of  daily  life,  as  birth 
and  marriage,  vintaging  and  the  harvest  wain,  youths  going  out  to  and  coming 
back  from  war,  sacrifices,  and  single  figures  of  all  sorts.  The  Baths  of 
Trajan,  again,  are  said  to  have  yielded  at  least  one  of  the  five  large  and 
interesting  pictures  first  published  in  1S40  from  drawings  in  the  Campana 
collection  ;  in  these  we  might  seem  to  have  before  us  great  compositions  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  of  the  school,  say,  of  Raphael.'"'' 

To  the  class  of  lost  Roman  paintings  belong  also  those  of  Hadrian's  Villa  at 
Tivoli,  from  which  drawings  were  made  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century 
by  Marco  Carloni.  These  were  ten  large  and  somewhat  loosely  composed  de- 
signs from  Greek  and  Roman  mythology,  the  action  in  each  case  passing  in  the 
foreground  of  a  spacious  landscape.  Again,  the  large  and  interesting  landscape 
excavated  beneath  the  palace  of  Palestrina,  and  published  in  1676  by  Holstenius 
under  the  title  of  "  Nympha^um,"  had  perished  by  the  time  of  Winckelmann.^^ 

It  is  thus  clear  that  if  all  the  mural  paintings  were  still  preserved  which 
have  been  found,  and  perished  again,  in  Rome  since  the  Renascence,  they 
would  supply  us  with  rich  stores  for  the  history  of  painting  in  the  last  da}-s  of 
antiquity.  As  it  is,  we  must  content  ourselves  with  inferring  thus  much 
from  our  knowledge  of  what  has  disappeared, — that  throughout  the  ages  of  the 
Roman  Empire  mural  painting  held  a  leading  place  in  the  adornment  of  all 
kinds  of  buildings, — that  its  range  of  subjects  was  almost  unlimited,  inasmuch 
as  it  turned  to  artistic  account  whatever  was  suggested  by  mythology  and 
history,  by  landscape,  by  the  daily  life  of  humanity,  or  the  airy  sport  of 
wandering  fancy, — but  that  in  this  extensive  range  the  class  of  subjects  created 
by  Greek  invention  prevailed,  just  as  the  Greek  feeling  for  form,  although  in 
deterioration  and  decay,  prevailed  in  their  embodiment. 

The  paintings  which  still  remain  form  a  separate  class,  and  their  character 
confirms  and  vivifies  the  impression  already  gathered  from  the  accounts  of  those 
we  have  lost.  In  1764  Winckelmann  was  acquainted,  from  personal  inspec- 
tion, with  only  twelve  examples  of  Roman  mural  painting,  the  most  famous  of 
which  were  the  so-called  Aldobrandini  Marriage  and  the  life-sized  pictures  of 
Rome  enthroned  and  Venus  reclining,  in  the  Barberini  I'alace.  This  state  of 
things  has  been  completely  altered  by  the  excavations  carried  on  in  the  course 
of  the  last  and  present  generations,  and  there  arc  now  a  considerable  niimlxr  of 
ancient  wall-paintings  to  be  .seen  in  and  about  Rome.  Of  these,  some  have 
been  left  upon  the  walls  where  they  were  found  ;  some,  with  tlic  plaster  ground 
upon  which  they  were  painted,  have  been  removed  from  the  wall  and  placed  in 
museums. 

Among  Roman  collections,  that  of  the  Latcran  contains  pictures  of  the 
period  of  decadence,  removed  frorti  tombs  at  Ostia  ;   of  these  we  may  take  as  an 

Q 


114 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


example  of  a  mythological 
subject,  a  picture  of  the 
under  world,  with  Orpheus 
and  Eurydice,  Pluto  and 
Persephone,  Oknos  with  the 
rope-eating  she-ass,^'*  as  well 
as  the  door-keeper  {Janitor), 
designed  with  the  severe 
symmetry  of  a  relief;  and 
as  an  example  of  carefully 
executed  still  life,  the  picture 
of  a  partridge  sitting  on  two 
apples.  The  Rospigliosi  Pa- 
lace also  contains  wall-paint- 
ings, and  among  them  some 
from  the  Baths  of  Constantine, 
which  were  reproduced  in  the 
early  publications.  In  the 
\^illa  Albani  is  preserved  the 
charming  id}'llic  landscape 
found  in  1764  on  the  Via 
Appia,  and  published  and 
discussed  by  Winckelmann. 

I^ut  the  most  interesting 
series  of  pictures  removed 
from  the  wall  is  that  con- 
tained in  one  of  the  halls  of 
the  Vatican  gallery.  The 
figures  of  heroines  famous 
for  their  strange  loves,  among 
them  Pasiphae  with  her  bull, 
Phaidra,  Myrrha,  Kanake,and 
Skylla,  are  identified  by  in- 
scriptions. These  figures  are 
distinguished  by  thcughtful- 
ness  of  expression,  but  other- 
wise do  not  belong  to  the 
choicest  remains  of  ancient 
painting.  But  the  often-de- 
scribed Aldobrandini  Marriage 
(Fig.  28)  must  be  specially 
mentioned  in  thisplace."*^   This 


Fitr.  28 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY 


"5 


is  a  long  picture,  containing  ten  figures  composed  like  a  relief,  indeed  almost 
like  a  frieze,  before  a  very  simple  background.  The  groups  divide  naturallj'  into 
three.  In  the  middle  the  veiled  bride  is  seated  upon  the  nuptial  couch  with 
her  head  modestly  bent  down.  A  woman  half-draped  and  garlanded  sits 
beside  her  ;  a  third  holds  ointment  and  a  bowl  in  readiness.  The  bridegroom, 
also  garlanded,  and  with  the  upper  part  of  his  body  bare,  waits  on  a  threshold 
at  the  head  of  the  couch — no  doubt  the  threshold  of  the  nuptial  chamber.  In 
the  further  room,  on  the  left  of  the  spectator,  are  women  preparing  the  bath  ; 
and  in  the  ante-room  on  the  right,  three  more  performing  a  sacrifice  with  songs 
and  lute-playing.  This  painting,  which  was  discovered  in  1606  near  the 
Arch  of  Gallienus,  and  named  after  its  first  possessor,  Cardinal  Aldobrandini, 
may  well  be  a  copy  of  a  better  original.  The  version  before  us  is  composed,  not 
pictorially,  but  yet  with  taste  ;  it  exhibits  several  individual  motives  of  much 
beauty,  soft  harmonious  colouring,  and  is  instinct  with  that  placid  and  serious 
charm  which  belongs  only  to  the  antique.  In  technical  execution,  however, 
the  work  is  insignificant,  and  in  no  way  rises  above  the  slightness  which  marks 
the  ordinary  handling  of  the  Roman  house-decorators  in  similar  subjects. 

The  most  interesting  pictures  in  the  Vatican  Library  are  without  doubt  the 
large  and  famous  Odyssey  landscapes  excavated  on  the  Esquiline  in  1848- 
1850.''^  These  consist  of  six  complete  pictures  and  the  half  of  a  seventh,  with 
portions  of  another  unfortunately  quite  dilapidated.  The  figure-episodes  in 
these  paintings  are  of  great  interest  as  illustrating  almost  exactly  the  Homeric 
text.  The  first  three,  with  the  contiguous  half  of  the  fourth,  represent  the 
adventure  of  the  Laestrygones.  The  tale  of  Kirke  extended  from  the  middle 
of  the  fourth  probably  to  the  end  of  the  dilapidated  sixth,  and  next  came 
the  sev^enth  and  the  sole  remaining  half  of  the  eighth,  with  an  illustration  of 
the  Nekyia,  or  visit  of  Ulysses  to  the  under  world  (Fig.  29).  The  whole  series, 
as  it  now  stands,  illustrates  a  continuous  section  of  the  poem  (from  Od.  x. 
80  to  xi.  600).  Most  of  the  figures  are  identified,  even  to  superfluity,  by 
Greek  inscriptions.  A  further  interest  attaches  to  these  pictures  if  they  are 
looked  upon  as  part  of  a  once  homogeneous  scheme  of  decoration  which  ran 
round  the  lower  part  of  the  walls  of  a  large  room  in  a  kind  of  frieze  or  dado, 
divided  by  painted  pilasters  in  bright  red.  But  the  several  landscapes  arc  not 
terminated  at  the  pilasters  ;  on  the  contrary,  both  lines  and  colours  may 
be  clearly  traced  as  running  on  from  picture  to  picture,  so  that,  except  for  the 
break  caused  by  the  pilasters,  we  should  be  led  from  one  subject  to  anothcr 
by  unperceived  transitions.  The  predominant  colours  in  the  pictures  them- 
selves are  yellowish  brown  and  greenish  blue,  and  from  these  the  brilliant  red 
pilasters,  which  bring  the  whole  into  decorative  unity,  stand  out  with  telling 
effect.  But  the  special  value  of  these  works  lies  in  their  character  as  land- 
scapes. The  countr\-  of  the  Laestrygones,  bordered  with  its  jutting  yellow  crags, 
the   wide   blue   inlet   of  the   sea,   from   the   mountains   overhanging   which   the 


ti6  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

giants  hurl  destruction  upon  the  Greek  ships  ;  the  court  of  Kirke's  Palace,  shown 


Fig.  29. 


to   be  the  central   picture   of  the    series   by  the  perspective  treatment  of  the 
dividing  pillars  ;  lastly,   the   mighty  opening   in   the   rocks   on   the   sea-shore, 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  117 

which  proclaims  itself  the  entrance  to  the  nether  world,  and  with  vivid  pictorial 
effect  lets  a  broad  ray  of  light  stream  into  the  dark  and  thickly-peopled 
kingdom  of  shadows,  —  all  these  furnish  examples  of  completed  landscape 
painting,  for  which,  up  to  the  time  of  their  discovery,  we  should  not  have  given 
any  age  of  antiquity  credit.  Vitruvius,  as  we  have  already  seen,  reckons 
Odyssey-landscapes  of  this  kind  among  the  class  of  subjects  with  which  corridors 
used  to  be  decorated  in  the  good  old  times,  before  the  introduction  of  the  corrupt 
grotesque.  Hence  we  may  attribute  the  invention  of  the  designs  before  us  to  the 
Hellenistic  period  ;  but  the  masonry  of  the  walls  they  decorated  shows  that  the 
execution  of  these  particular  examples  belongs  to  the  last  days  of  the  Republic 
or  the  first  of  the  Empire.  Though  the  conception  of  nature  is  entirely 
decorative,  and  though  the  system  of  colour,  which  even  renders  the  main  facts 
of  aerial  perspective  in  a  broad  conventional  way,  is  rather  arbitrarily  selected 
to  enforce  the  required  sentiment  than  carefully  copied  from  the  individual 
truths  of  nature,  still  this  decorative  conception  is  both  grandiose  and  agreeable, 
and  by  no  means  wanting  in  poetry.  These  paintings  stand  alone  among  all 
the  works  of  antiquity  which  still  exist.  Other  fragments  of  Roman  wall- 
painting  are  to  be  found  scattered  among  various  collections  ;  for  instance  the 
beautiful  figures  with  Greek  inscriptions  of  a  tomb  in  the  Campagna,  from 
among  which  the  Aphrodite  and  Myrtilos  have  lately  been  published.''-  Several 
others  are  in  the  Louvre. 

But  besides  the  examples  thus  collected  in  public  museums,  there  arc  also 
in  and  about  Rome  a  series  of  paintings  preserved  where  they  were  originally 
found,  and  on  the  very  walls  upon  which  they  were  painted.  First,  a  few  of  the 
tombs  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Rome  have  retained  their  painted  decorations. 
The  so-called  "  second  "  tomb  of  the  Via  Latina  contains  in  its  first  chamber 
the  remains  of  a  large  mountain  landscape  with  wild  beasts,  in  its  principal 
chamber  a  rich  ceiling,  with  a  mixed  decoration  of  plaster-work  and  painting, 
in  which  eight  small  and  beautiful  landscape  pieces  are  interesting  from  their 
peculiar  treatment  of  perspective.  This  tomb  is  ascribed  to  the  time  of  the 
Antonines.''^  A  later  date  must  be  assigned  to  the  small  paintings,  discovered 
in  1838,  which  are  arranged  in  tiers  in  the  Columbarium  of  the  Villa  Pamfili. 
Every  imaginable  scene  of  mythology,  ritual,  daily  life,  and  landscape,  is  here 
thrown  in  a  slight  sketchy  manner  upon  a  white  ground,  bearing  witness  to  the 
ease  and  certainty  with  which  the  brush  was  managed  by  even  the  j()urnc\-mcn 
of  the  late  time,  in  accordance  with  the  hereditary  traditions  of  their  craft. 
Among  the  ancient  villas  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Rome,  a  chamber  in  the 
so-called  P'i//a  ad  Gallinas  of  Livia,  excavated  in  1863,  is  remarkable  for  an 
important  example,  which  may  be  considered  as  representing  to  perfection  the 
whole  class  to  which  it  belongs.  This  is  a  great  picture  of  a  luxuriant  gaidcn, 
covering  all  four  walls  of  the  room,  so  that  the  spectator  seems  to  himself  stand- 
ing, as  it  were,  in  the  midst  of  a  fine  pleasure-ground.      The  aim  here — in  du'cct 


ii8  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

opposition  to  that  of  the  Odyssey  landscapes — is  reaHstic  as  well  as  decorative. 
Immediately  above  the  wainscot,  a  narrow  strip  of  grass  is  painted  as  a  fore- 
ground to  the  whole,  enclosed  by  a  railing.  Between  the  rails  birds  like  hens 
walk  about,  grass  and  herbs  sprout,  and  gaily-coloured  flowers  bloom  ;  in 
curved  recesses  of  the  fence  stand  the  principal  trees  of  the  picture,  dark 
vigorous  pines,  and  at  one  side  an  oak,  with  a  bird's  nest  charmingly  placed  in 
the  midst  of  its  branches.  The  whole  background  is  filled  with  a  thick  and 
pleasant  grove  of  palms  and  fruit-trees  of  all  kinds,  which  are  quite  character- 
istically drawn,  and  spring  from  an  undergrowth  of  rose  bushes  and  other 
flowering  shrubs  ;  in  the  farthest  distance  are  cypresses.  The  horizon  is 
indicated  by  a  green  stripe  behind  this  rich  and  blossoming  thicket,  above  it 
rises  the  blue  sky.  Human  personages  do  not  o.xur,  but  numbers  of  bright- 
coloured  birds  fill  the  grove  with  life  and  movement.  The  execution,  though 
broad  and  flowing,  is  naturalistic,  careful,  and  exact.  It  is  not  impossible,  as 
Brunn  has  already  observed,  that  these  decorations  may  be  original  works  of 
the  painter  Ludius  (if  that  was  his  real  name),  since  according  to  Pliny  he  was 
the  inventor  of  this  style,  and  since,  at  the  time  when  he  lived,  the  building  in 
which  they  occur  was  the  property  of  the  Imperial  family.  They  would,  in  that 
case,  have  a  quite  peculiar  interest  as  the  only  existing  paintings  from  the  hand 
of  an  artist  known  to  us  through  the  ancient  writers.  But  the  conjecture  can- 
not be  proved. 

Within  the  city  of  Rome  itself  the  great  Baths  preserve  few  remains  of 
their  original  paintings  ;  the  chief  fragments,  passing  over  a  few  less  note- 
worthy, are  those  found  in  the  imperial  palaces  on  the  Palatine,  excavated  for 
the  first  time  at  the  instance  of  Napoleon  III.  Not  to  dwell  on  those  of  a 
building  on  this  site  which  has  been  longer  known,  the  Baths  of  Livia,  and 
still  less  on  some  little  pictures  found  in  the  palace  of  Caligula, — the  House 
of  Livia  above  all  exhibits  in  its  various  chambers  some  well-preserved  and 
remarkable  paintings.*^*  The  largest  room,  the  tablinum,  contains  two  mytho- 
logical subjects.  One  is  lo  watched  by  Argos  and  set  free  by  Hermes  (the 
treatment  may  possibly  be  derived  from  the  ancient  painting  by  Nikias,  the 
contemporary  of  Alexander,  see  above,  p.  57).  The  other  is  conceived  in  the 
true  Hellenistic  spirit,  and  has  the  effect  of  a  vast  mythological  landscape  ; 
it  depicts  the  story  of  the  loves  of  Polyphemos  and  his  beautiful  sea-nymph 
Galateia.  The  monstrous  giant,  bridled  by  Eros,  stands  breast-high  in  the  water 
between  cliffs ;  Galateia  looks  round  at  him  mockingly  as  she  rides  away 
on  a  sea-horse.  At  a  little  distance  two  of  her  companions  start  up  in  surprise 
from  the  water.  A  third  tall-shaped  picture  shows  a  Roman  street  with  high 
many-storied  houses,  and  a  variety  of  personages  appearing  on  balconies  and 
loggie.  A  woman  and  child  walk  in  the  street  below.  Smaller  pictures  in  the 
same  room  represent  every-day  scenes  from  the  life  of  women.  In  the  Triclinium 
or  dining-room,  on  the  other  hand,  we  find  two  large  fantastic  landscapes,  the 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND   ITALY. 


119 


central  points  of  which  are  composed  b}'  small  temples  standing  amid  their 
sacred  trees  on  steep  cliffs.  Another  chamber  in  the  House  of  Livia  shows  a 
long  low  landscape-frieze,  which  is  of  the  highest  interest,  though  treated  almost 
in  monochrome,  with  brown  shadows  and  white  lights  on  a  yellow  ground  ;  it 
represents  more  vividh-  than  the  description  of  an\'  writer  the  animated  street- 
life  of  an  ancient  provincial  town.  In  quite  recent  years,  again,  various  wall- 
paintings  have  been  brought  to  light  in  different  parts  of  Rome,  among  which 


FiS-  30. 


the   most   interesting  seem    to   be   representations  of  old  Italian  m\-lhs  from  a 
tomb  on  the  Ivsquiline."'' 

[In  the  course  of  the  excavations  in  the  garden  of  the  h'anicsina  Talace, 
necessitated  b\'  the  new  embankment  of  the  Tiber,  a  set  of  chambers  and 
corridors  has  within  the  last  (cw  mcjnths  been  brought  to  light,  of  which  the 
painted  decorations  seem  t(j  surpass  e\er\thing  hitherto  found  in  konic.'' 
We  hear  of  a  corridor  with  its  walls  ])arte(l  off  1)\-  greenish  pilasters,  and  in  the 
panels  betw^een  them,  traces  of  delicate  figures  and  landscapes  on  a  white 
"•round  ;  oC  a  small  ricliK-  decorated  chamber  ])arallel  with  this  corridor, 
containiuL''  on  its  Icfl-hand  wall   a  sbghth'  executed  'i'oilet  of   X'eiuis,  said  to  be 


I20  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

of  extraordinary  beaut)-,  with  nuptial  and  festival  scenes  in  compartments  above, 
and  figures  of  divinities  on  bright  red  fields  at  the  sides  : — of  another  chamber 
opening  out  of  this  last,  with  a  highl\'-finished  Nurture  of  Bacchus,  and  on 
either  side  a  figure  holding  up  a  picture  of  a  woman  playing  a  lyre,  and 
Victories  above  : — of  a  third  with  figures  of  divinities  on  red  grounds,  and  other 
subjects,  including  a  beautiful  figure  of  a  young  girl  seated  on  a  table,  on  black 
grounds  : — and  again  of  a  larger  hall,  with  landscapes  divided  by  a  fanciful 
architecture  of  slender  columns,  friezes,  and  festoons.  In  connection  with  one 
of  these  sets  of  pictures  appears  the  signature  of  a  painter,  Seleukos.] 

The  study  of  Roman  wall-paintings  thus  at  once  yields  an  illustration  of 
the  accounts  of  ancient  writers,  totally  different  from  any  we  were  able  to  obtain 
from  the  minor  classes  of  artistic  production  before  discussed.  We  have 
here  to  do  with  an  art  developed  to  complete  freedom  ;  an  art  which  applies 
the  laws  of  conscious  and  scientific  perspective,  indeed,  only  to  the  drawing  of 
architectural  objects  in  front  view,  but  in  more  complicated  cases  works  with 
an  intuitive  sense  of  perspective  which  generally  proves  sufficient  ;  an  art 
which  had  full  mastery  over  the  rules  of  modelling  and  of  light  and  shade,  and 
was  quite  as  much  at  home  in  large  and  crowded  compositions  as  in  daintily 
ornamental  single  figures.  And  if  about  all  these  paintings  there  seems  to 
cling  a  certain  superficiality  and  slightness  of  routine  workmanship,  we  must 
remember  that  they  are  not  the  masterpieces  of  famous  artists,  but  only 
examples  more  or  less  skilful,  and  always  anonymous,  of  a  flourishing  art- 
industry.  Although  a  considerable  number  of  vase-painters  considered  them- 
selves of  sufficient  importance  to  put  their  names  to  their  paintings,  we  find 
no  mural  painter  either  in  Rome  or  Pompeii  [except  the  above-named  Seleukos] 
who  has  done  as  much.  But  what  models  must  these  excellent  decorators  have 
had  at  their  command — what  traditions  must  have  been  cherished  in  their  work- 
shops— what  wealth  of  individual  artistic  instinct  must  have  survived  in  them 
— when  the  best  of  their  works,  among  which  mechanical  duplicates  are  never 
found,  have  for  us  even  now  such  a  living  charm,  and  when  it  was  not  till  the 
latter  centuries  of  the  Empire,  long  after  all  the  famous  artists  were  no  more, 
that  a  final  decadence  set  in,  and  this  art  of  mural  painting  relapsed  like  all 
others  into  primitive  rudeness  ! 

III. — Lower  Italy. — A  true  Hellenic  life  had  made  its  home  in  the 
great  towns  founded  by  Greek  colonists  on  the  coasts  of  Lower  Italy,  long 
before  either  the  Romans  themselves  had  become  fully  imbued  with  Hellenism, 
or  all  the  rest  of  Italy  had  submitted  to  conquering  Rome.  In  these  towns 
the  Greek  language,  Greek  art,  and  Greek  manners  were  scarcely  less  cherished 
than  in  Greece  itself.  For  this  reason  we  see  noble  remains  of  real  Greek 
temples  standing  down  to  our  own  day,  not  only  in  Sicily  but  also  on  the 
mainland,  especially  at  Paestum,  the  ancient  Poseidonia  ;  and  many  a  noble 
specimen  of  Greek  sculpture  has  been  recovered  in  the  same  localities. 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY. 


121 


Painting,  however,  is  the  most  perishable  of  arts  ;  and  even  in  the  towns 
of  Magna  Grsecia  proper,  very  scanty  remains  of  mural  paintings  have  been 
discovered.  But  we  must  pause  over  some  which  were  unearthed  at  Paestum, 
and  are  now  preserved  in  the  museum  at  Naples  (Fig.  31).  Scenes  simple  but 
full  of  subject  are  depicted  in  lively  colours  on  a  white  ground  ;  warriors 
returning  from  the  field ;  women  receiving  them  and  offering  them  refresh- 
ment ;  countr>'men  who,  having  remained  at  home  and  welcomed  back  the 
conquerors  with  rejoicings,  are  now  returning  to  their  work.  Among  the 
warriors  we  are  struck  by  a  bearded  standard-bearer  ;  among  the  unarmed 
horsemen,  by  a  youth  who  rides  joyfully  along  on  a  fiery  horse.      That   this   is 


Fig-  31- 

Greek  art,  though  it  cannot  be  proved,  seems  probable.  Paestum  lost  its 
independence  as  a  Hellenic  community  when  the  Lucanians  conquered  it  in 
the  fourth  century  iJ.c.  ;  the  costumes  in  the  work  before  us  arc  therefore 
Lucanian  and  not  Greek  ;  the  profiles  too  are  not  pure,  or  at  least  not  ideal 
Greek,  but  show  something  of  national  individuality.  Yet  the  style  of  these 
paintings,  which  stands  on  the  threshold  of  complete  freedom,  may  on  the 
whole  be  pronounced  more  strictly  Greek  than  that  of  any  other  existing 
wall-paintings.  Neither  is  there  anything  to  prevent  us  from  supposing  them  to 
be  the  production  of  a  Greek  artist  in  the  pay  of  one  of  the  Lucanian  conquerors. 
They  are  marked  by  that  grace  of  inward  life,  combined  with  outward  repose, 
which  belongs  to  the  work  of  no  other  people.*'' 

Leaving  these  interesting  examples  of  early  jjainting  in  Lower  Ital}',  we 
approach  a  somewhat  uniform  but  extraordinarily  rich  and  extensive  range  of 
materials,  in  the  shape  of  mural  paintings  of  the  Campanian  cities   of  Stabi.u, 

K 


122  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

Herculaneum,  and  Pompeii,  which  were  destroyed  by  an  eruption  of  Vesuvius, 
A.D.  79.  These  paintings,  which  have  been  gradually  restored  to  light  since 
the  middle  of  the  last  century,  are  partly  to  be  found  removed  from  their 
original  walls  and  preserved  in  the  museum  at  Naples  —  in  the  ground-floor 
of  which  they  fill  whole  galleries — and  partly  on  the  same  walls  for  which 
they  were  originally  painted.  At  Stabicne,  where  the  excavations  have  been 
long  abandoned,  there  remain  no  paintings  to  be  studied  on  the  spot  ;  and 
few  at  Herculaneum,  where  the  most  important  finds  were  made  at  first, 
but  where  the  excavations  are  carried  on  but  slowly  now.  In  Pompeii,  on 
the  other  hand,  where,  from  the  favourable  nature  of  the  ground,  the  exca- 
vations have  since  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  assumed  the  chief 
importance,  the  great  majority  of  the  wall-paintings  still  adorn  the  very  walls 
to  which  the  decorator  first  applied  them. 

In  the  catalogue  of  the  mural  paintings  of  Campania  completed  by 
Dr.  Helbig  in  1867,  that  distinguished  scholar,  who  has  rendered  signal 
ser\-ice  in  the  classification  and  criticism  of  this  class  of  ancient  monuments, 
reckoned  the  total  number  of  examples  at  almost  two  thousand.*'^  Among  these, 
however,  were  not  included  innumerable  small  pictures  of  minor  importance, — 
as  for  instance  hundreds  of  small  landscape  pieces  ;  and  the  diggings  energeti- 
cally carried  on  during  the  last  ten  years  have  yet  further  increased  by  several 
hundreds  the  number  of  pieces  worthy  of  being  counted  in  the  list.  Our 
business,  in  the  present  place,  can  only  be  to  bring  out  certain  general  aspects 
of  the  interest  presented  by  this  vast  mass  of  material. 

It  cannot,  in  the  first  place,  be  too  much  insisted  upon  that  this  whole 
class  of  work  is  merely  so  much  ordinary  chamber  decoration.  And  decora- 
tion of  this  kind  was  a  matter  which  the  Greeks  had  from  of  old  had  much  at 
heart.  F"or  our  knowledge  of  the  art,  however,  as  it  was  practised  in  the 
days  before  Alexander,  we  are  left  almost  entirely  to  conjecture,  as  no  examples 
remain  and  as  the  remarks  of  Vitruvius  do  not  go  back  so  far.  The  examples 
actually  accessible  to  study  between  Rome,  Herculaneum,  and  Pompeii,  numer- 
ous as  they  are,  do  not  represent  any  style  earlier  than  that  of  the  Hellenistic 
age  of  the  Diadochi.  Dazzled  by  their  immense  abundance  and  variet}-,  it  was 
impossible  for  students  at  first  to  distinguish  among  them  various  phases  of 
development.  All  seemed  free  fanc}',  humour,  and  caprice.  It  is  onh'  lately 
that,  assisted  by  the  remarks  of  Vitruvius  on  the  history  of  the  art  since  the 
Diadochi,  it  has  become  possible  to  distinguish,  especially  in  the  Pompeian 
work,  differences  of  style  corresponding  to  successive  epochs.*''^ 

For  the  various  ways  of  dividing  off  the  decorated  surface  of  a  wall,  in  use 
before  the  reed -like  pilaster  objected  to  by  Vitruvius  came  into  fashion,  let  the 
reader  be  referred  to  p.  6^  above.  But  even  within  this  later  system  of  lightly- 
fanciful  decoration,  which  is  the  system  principally  prevailing  at  Pompeii,  suc- 
cessive variations   can  be   discerned.      First,  in  place   of  the  regular  and   stable 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY. 


123 


painted  half-columns  and  pilasters  of  the  earlier  style,  are  substituted  the 
incapable  reed-like  or  candelabrum-like  supports  of  which  we  have  spoken.  But 
the  form  and  limits  of  the  general  design  are  not  yet  violated.  Next,  the  new 
system  of  slender  supports  is  developed  until  the  whole  architectural  composi- 
tion becomes  transformed  into  something  as  fantastic  and  airily  light  as  a 
modern  structure  in  glass  and  iron.  But  regular  divisions  of  wall-space  are  still 
left  free  within  this  fanciful  framework.      Lastly,  the  framework   intrudes   upon 


Fig.  32. 


the  wall-spaces  it  is  designed  to  enclose,  and  the  whole  surface  is  overrun  with 
arbitrary  combinations  of  slender  and  impossible  architecture.  We  can  hardly 
venture,  however,  to  claim  a  regular  chronological  succession  for  all  these 
variations.  The  great  bulk  of  the  examples  which  especially  concern  us, 
because  they  consist  in  part  of  real  figure  or  landscape  pictures,  preserve  in  all 
cases  the  twofold  structural  division  of  the  wall  ;  its  horizontal  division  into  a 
dado,  generally  coloured  dark,  an  upper  frieze,  generally  light,  and  not  un- 
frequently  white,"and  a  broad  brightly-coloured  band  between  the  two  ;  and  its 
vertical  division  by  means  of  fancifully  painted  stri^jes  in  place  of  the  old 
pilasters,  of  which  the  effect  is  to  di\i(lc  the  middle  band  or  main  course  into 
several    panel-shaped    compartments    somewhat    higher    than    they    are    wide. 


124 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


The  prevailing  colours  of  these  panels  are  red,  yellow,  black,  and  white,  more 
rarely  blue  and  green.  In  many  houses  the  decoration  does  not  go  beyond  this 
division  of  the  walls  into  parti-coloured  fields,  with  the  addition  of  patterned 
borders  and  little  ornaments  of  figures  or  plants  occupying  the  centres  of  the 
several  panels.  More  interesting  and  characteristic,  however,  are  those  architec- 
tural designs  with  their  tall  reed- like  columns,  their  cornices  incapable  of 
support,  their  ribboned  ornaments  where  the  pediments  should  be  ;  painted 
structures  of  which   the   perspective   has  neither  beginning  nor  end,  and  which 

cover  the  whole  surface  of  a  wall,  ex- 
cept the  smaller  or  greater  panelled 
spaces  purposely  left  free,  with  what  is 
rather  a  great  net-work  of  ornament 
than  any  true  architectural  design. 
The  whole  style  bears  the  same  relation 
to  what  Vitruvius  calls  the  good  old 
style,  as  the  Rococo  does  to  the  true 
Renascence ;  and  though  we  may  think 
there  is  some  truth  in  this  verdict  of 
the  Roman  architect  and  critic,  we 
cannot  help  being  strongly  attracted 
by  the  exuberant  and  never  identical 
fancy,  the  dazzling  colouring,  the  im- 
perishable charm  of  these  Pompeian 
decorations. 

The  properly  pictorial  part  of  the 
ornament,  which  is  our  main  concern, 
occurs  in  the  most  various  relations  to 
the  general  scheme  of  which  it  forms, 
as  the  case  may  be,  a  larger  or  smaller 
part.  According  to  the  nature  of  these 
relations  the  pictures  may  bedivided  in- 
to different  groups.  As  the  first  group 
we  may  take  those  which  cover  all  four  walls,  or  one  entire  wall,  of  any  given 
room,  and,  in  so  doing,  often  supersede  altogether  the  customary  division  of 
dado,  frieze,  and  intervening  course.  It  is  only  landscapes  which  are  so 
treated,  and  especially  great  park  scenes,  such  as  those  of  the  Villa  ad  Gal- 
linas,  and  of  not  a  few  chambers  in  Pompeian  houses.  These  park  views 
form  a  characteristic  ornament  for  the  cooling  rooms  in  baths  ;  they  are 
also  favourite  subjects  upon  garden  walls,  where  they  are  painted  evidently 
to  give  an  enlarged  impression  of  space,  to  do  away  by  a  pleasing  illusion  with 
the  sense  of  wall,  and  to  give  a  feeling  of  the  open  country  amid  the  cramped 
dwelling-places  of  the  town. 


Fi: 


K-  J  J- 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  125 

A  second  group  is  formed  of  mural  paintings  which,  though  large,  only 
occupy  parts  of  whole  walls,  being  separated  by  pilasters,  so  that  several  can  find 
their  place  side  by  side  on  the  same  wall.  These  pictures  do  not  aim  at 
illusion  in  the  same  degree  as  those  of  the  first  group.  Only  in  such  cases 
as  the  before  -  mentioned  Tridhiium  of  the  Roman  house  on  the  Palatine, 
where  the  object  was  to  imitate  real  views  seen  through  open  windows  in  the 
wall — only  in  such  cases  are  the  pictures  calculated  to  produce  an  effect  of 
illusion  on  the  person  within.  In  this  second  group  landscape  subjects  still 
predominate.  In  it  we  find  especially  those  "  coast  towns  in  the  open,  most 
cheaply  done,  and  most  charming  to  the  view,"  which  Pliny  mentions  as  an 
invention  of  the  Roman  Ludius  ;  also  hunting  scenes  ;  and  desolate  mountain 
scenery  with  wild  beasts  ;  and  mythological  scenes  with  spacious  backgrounds, 
as  the  Polyphemus  and  Galatea  in  the  so-called  Casa  della  caccia  antica,  Diana 
and  Actaeon  in  the  Casa  di  Salliistio,  and  the  wounded  Adonis  in  the  house 
called  after  him. 

As  a  third  group  we  may  regard  those  wall-paintings  which,  as  Helbig  has 
shown,  imitate  panel-pictures  let  into  the  walls.  They  are  of  moderate  size, 
surrounded  with  a  well-marked  frame,  and  are  generally  placed  in  the  centre 
of  the  main  decorative  compartment  of  the  wall.  They  owed  their  origin,  no 
doubt,  to  the  imitation  of  jDanel-pictures.  In  earlier  times  the  famous  panels 
of  great  masters  had  really  been  inserted  in  chamber  walls.  In  Pompeii  marks 
have  in  some  cases  actually  been  discovered  showing  that  these  panel-shaped 
frescoes  have  been  cut  out  of  one  wall  and  re-inserted  in  another.  But  as 
a  general  rule  it  was  thought  sufficient,  at  the  time  when  it  was  the  fashion  to 
ornament  spaces  with  a  homogeneous  scheme  of  pictorial  decoration,  to  introduce 
imitations  of  this  kind  in  the  places  where  really  good  panel-pictures  might 
have  been  inserted.  In  reality  the  imitations  thus  introduced  were  superficial 
and  often  capriciously  altered  copies  of  masterpieces  known  in  other  places. 
Hence  they  so  often  contain  those  mythological  subjects,  the  frequency  of 
which  give  their  main  interest  to  the  whole  class  of  Campanian  mural 
paintings. 

A  fourth  group  is  constituted  by  pictures  having  a  very  inferior  claim  to 
an  independent  rank  as  works  of  art.  These  only  pretend  to  be  accessory 
elements  in  decoration,  and  inseparable  from  it  ;  they  belong  directly  to  those 
flimsy  painted  semblances  of  architectural  structures  into  which  they  are  let, 
in  the  shape  of  little  panels  or  vignettes,  without  adding  anything  beyond  a 
merely  ornamental  effect.  Sometimes  they  appear  as  suspended  between  high, 
slender,  painted  columns  ;  sometimes  as  if  they  were  placed  in  front  of  the 
balustrades  of  the  basement  ;  sometimes  raised  upon  the  cornice,  and  again 
suspended  under  the  little  pediment  of  the  painted  .structure.  The  subjects 
they  represent  have  no  independent  importance.  They  arc  little  views  from 
nature,  still  life,  etc.      But  we  must  also  include  in  this  group  those  real  fric/xs 


126  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

on  a  larger  scale   in  which    caricatured    representations   of   Egyptian    life    pre- 
dominate, and  which  occur  not  unfrequently. 

As  a  fifth  group  we  may  reckon  all  pictures  inserted  by  themselves,  with- 
out framing  or  connected  background  of  their  own,  into  any  scheme  of  decora- 
tion. To  these  belong  all  the  human  figures  which,  like  the  little  vignettes 
above  mentioned,  serve  merely  as  ornaments  or  ornamental  personages  enlivening 
an  architectural  design.  Such  figures  sometimes  look  out  over  a  balustrade, 
sometimes  balance  themselves  in  the  most  impossible  positions  on  a  tendril,  some- 
times wander  like  sleep-walkers  high  up  on  a  jutting  cornice.  Anon  they  open 
a  door  into  the  empty  space  of  the  coloured  wall  behind,  and  anon  they  crouch 
meditatively  on  a  staircase  of  the  imaginary  pleasure-house.  Strange  and  quaint 
is  often  their  effect,  but  always  ornamental  and  pleasing,  l^ut  it  is  not  only 
amid  this  framework  of  counterfeit  architecture  that  wc  find  such  unconnected 
figures  or  little  groups.  We  also  find  them  hovering  quite  detached  upon  s[mces 
which  the  framework  encloses — slim  floating  forms  with  light  flowing  draperies, 
or  spirited  outlines  of  the  nude,  slight,  but  firm  and  full  of  skill.  Figures  and 
small  groups  of  this  kind  are  found  in  great  numbers  at  Pompeii.  It  is  often 
difficult  to  assign  names  to  these  shapes  of  youth  and  maiden  ;  but  some  of 
them  may  be  identified  as  Seasons,  Muses,  Hours,  and  Graces,  or  else  as  .Satyrs 
and  Bacchants.  In  these  designs,  in  which  there  is  unlimited  play  for  the 
fancy,  we  also  find  Centaurs,  Tritons,  and  demi-brutes.  What  is  striking  is 
that  even  landscapes  also,  without  enclosure  or  completeness  of  background,  and 
without  sky,  though  not  without  an  attempt  at  perspective,  appear  painted  on 
the  red,  yellow,  black,  or  white  ground  of  the  wall  which  everywhere  shows 
through  them. 

This  immense  variety  in  the  ornamental  or  decorative  position  held  by  the 
several  classes  of  Campanian  wall-paintings  implies  a  no  less  variety  of  subject. 
Here  also  we  may  affirm  as  a  rule  that  everything  was  treated  that  fancy  could 
invent  or  legend  hand  down  ;  everything  that  daily  life  could  bring  before  the 
eye,  or  that  nature  herself  with  all  her  delights  could  offer.  A  distinctive 
character,  however,  can  be  assigned  to  all  this  material  ;  and  it  is  not  to  be 
supposed  that  the  choice  was  made  at  haphazard. 

The  least  interesting  of  all  the  pictures  in  this  class  are  the  ritual 
pictures  proper,  the  devotional  paintings  which,  like  many  of  the  Catholic 
effigies  of  saints,  were  painted  for  street  corners  and  such-like  places,  and  like 
them  too  generally  by  inexperienced  hands.  Such  were  those  assemblies  of 
which  one  example,  at  a  street  corner  in  Pompeii,  includes  all  the  twelve 
Olympians  ;  or  single  divinities,  among  whom  Mercury  naturally  plays  an 
important  part  in  a  mercantile  town  like  Pompeii.  Jupiter,  Minerva,  Venus, 
and  Mars  were,  till  lately,  found  each  represented  only  once  in  this  manner, 
while  Mercury  occurred  twelve  times.  To  this  class  belong  further  the  pic- 
tures of  Lares,  Penates,  and  Genii,  placed  over  real  or  painted  altars,  or  in  little 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY. 


127 


shrines  erected  in  private  dwellings  for  household  worship.  The  genii  of  the 
place  were  often  symbolised  by  snakes  taking  refuge  at  the  altar.  As  all  these 
pictures  were  painted  purely  on  religious  and  not  at  all  on  artistic  grounds, 
they  possess  in  point  of  fact  no  merit  as  works  of  art,  and  ma\-  be   neo-lected 


Fig-  34- 

in  comparison  with  the  mass  of  others  which,  although  conceived  and  executed 
by  house  decorators,  were  works  of  real  if  not  indeed  of  high  art. 

The  most  important,  in  many  respects,  of  all  the  Campanian  wall-paintings 
arc  those  which  represent  on  a  somewhat  large  scale,  gcncrall}-  in  the  form  of 
counterfeit  panel-pictures,  some  scene  from  mythology  or  historj'.  It  is  curious 
that  strictly  historical  pictures,  like  the  Issos  mosaic,  appear  never,  or  as  good 
as  never,  among  wall-painting.s.  The  picture  in  which  Scipio  and  Sophoiu'sba 
are  supposed  to  be  recognised  is  an  isolated  case,  and  for  that  \ery  reason  may 


J 28  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

well  be  otherwise  explained.'^  Though  Pompeii  was  inhabited  by  Romans,  and 
although  by  the  time  when  most  of  the  Pompeian  paintings  were  executed  the 
Roman  historical  myth  of  ^neas  had  been  worked  out  and  made  familiar  by 
Virgil,  still  the  number  of  those  paintings  in  which  subjects  from  the  ^-Eneid 
can  be  recognised  is  altogether  insignificant.  Helbig  counts  but  five  such  in 
his  catalogue,  and  even  these  are  not  all  identified  with  certainty.  All  the 
other  subject -pictures  of  the  Campanian  wall-paintings  (and  they  may  be 
counted  by  hundreds)  illustrate  Greek  mythology,  partly  the  history  of  the 
gods,  partly  the  tales  of  the  heroes.  The  cycles  of  nearly  all  the  greater  gods 
arc  represented.  The  most  famous  example  from  the  cycle  of  Zeus  is  the 
picture  of  his  solemn  marriage,  found  in  the  Casa  del  Poeta  at  Pompeii,  and 
preserved  in  the  museum  at  Naples.^^  Very  few  of  the  wall-paintings  of  Lower 
Italy  breathe  such  a  spirit  of  quiet  majesty  or  holy  solemnity  as  this  does. 
On  the  contrary,  an  effeminate  and  sensual  character  generally  predominates 
in  them,  corresponding  to  the  levity  of  the  time  and  place.  So  we  find  in 
the  remaining  pictures  from  the  myths  of  Zeus,  that  his  love-passages  are  the 
favourite  theme  ;  or  else  it  is  the  heroines  whom  the  father  of  the  gods  made 
happy  with  his  love  that  we  find  represented,  as  Danae,  Leda,  Europa,  or  lo 
under  the  spell  of  her  doom.  In  accordance  with  the  same  tendency,  those 
among  the  other  gods  were  especially  preferred  who  embodied  life's  cheerfulness 
and  enjoyment :  Apollo,  Aphrodite,  Bacchus.  Apollo  appears  almost  always 
as  the  Citharcedus,  occasionally  also  in  his  prophetic  character,  and  a  large 
number  of  pictures  are  occupied  with  the  love-adventures  of  this  god.  Aphro- 
dite, the  goddess  of  love,  who  was  even  honoured  and  painted  in  a  special 
form  as  tutelar  goddess  of  this  love-stricken  city,  under  the  name  of  Venus 
Pompeiana,  plays  likewise  an  important  part.  At  one  time  she  appears  deck- 
ing herself,  at  another  sailing,  child  of  the  foam,  upon  her  shell,  or  upon  the 
back  of  some  sea-monster  over  the  blue  surface  of  the  waves.  Her  marriage 
with  Ares  is  portrayed  in  nearly  two  dozen  paintings,  and  her  adventure  with 
Adonis  nearly  as  often.  Eros  himself,  the  little-winged  god,  the  son  and  play- 
fellow of  Aphrodite,  is  represented  innumerably  often.  In  the  mind  of 
the  post-Alexandrian  age,  this  god  had  already  been  multiplied  for  good 
into  endless  Erotes  or  Amoretti.  Little  love-gods  of  this  kind  were  con- 
stantly represented  in  humorous  and  malicious  positions.  A  painting  of  a 
Market  of  Loves  found  at  Stable,  and  now  in  the  museum  at  Naples,  attracted 
very  justly  much  attention  at  the  time  of  its  discovery  ;  as  did  also  the  Nest  of 
Loves  found  at  Pompeii  (Fig.  35).  Bacchus  appears  exclusively  in  his  later 
and  youthful  form.  His  bringing  home  of  the  forsaken  Ariadne  from  Naxos 
is  a  favourite  subject,  but  the  figures  of  his  thiasos,  of  Sileni,  Satyrs,  Bacchants, 
appear  of  course  in  all  possible  forms,  situations,  and  predicaments,  sensual  and 
burlesque  as  well  as  occasionally  more  serious.  Of  the  secondary  deities, 
according  to  the  same  spirit,  Selene  and  Endymion,  Polyphemos  and  Galateia, 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY. 


129 


are  the  favourites.      Among  motives  suggested   by  foreign   forms  of  belief,  a 
series  of  Egyptian   subjects    is    remarkable.      The   Egyptian   goddess    Isis  had 


X  A..  R  B 


Fig.  35- 


a  temple  of  her  own  at  Pompeii,  and   her  worship  had  strongly  impressed   the 
imagination  of  the  time. 

The  same  considerations  which  determined  this  school  in  its  choice  among 
the  myths  of  the  gods,  held  good  also  as  to  the  talcs  of  the  heroes.  From  the 
epic  cycle,  scarcely  any  pictures  occur  of  the  sanguinary  scenes  before  Troy. 
The   Judgment  of  Paris   (Fig.  36),  on    the   other   hand,   appears   constanll>-  in 

s 


I^O 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


various  treatments.  Achilles  is  oftencst  represented  in  youth  ;  several  ex- 
amples of  his  education  by  the  centaur  Cheiron.  probably  copied  from  a  group 
in  marble,  and  his  discovery  on  the  island  of  Sk>-ros,  among  the  daughters  of 
Lycomedes,  appear  even   more  frequently.      The  release  of  Chryseis,  the  rape 


Fig.  36. 


of  Briseis,  and  the  sacrifice  of  Iphigeneia,  all  occur  in  the  very  same  house  with 
the  above-mentioned  Marriage  of  Zeus.  From  the  striking  dignity  and  beauty 
of  these  great  compositions,  the  house  in  which  they  were  found  received  the 
name  of  the  Poet's  House  {casa  del  poetd).  A  Death  of  Laokoon  (Fig.  "^j)  has 
also  been  recently  discovered.      Among  other   heroes   Herakles  was  much  too 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  i-,i 


0' 


populai  to  be  left  out.  Several  of  his  exploits  have  been  immortalised  in  these 
paintings.  Many  other  subjects  have  evidently  been  taken  from  tragedy  :  to 
this  class  belong  representations  of  Medeia  in  the  act  of  slaying  her  children. 
Phaidra  and  Hippolytos,  the  punishment  of  Dirkc,  Niobe,  and  others.  With 
these  may  be  classed  Phrixos  and  Heile  riding  his  ram  in  the  midst  of  the  sea, 


Fig.  37. 

and  Narcissus   falling   in   love  with   his   own    reflection  was   n.iluriiliy  a  subject 
quite  after  the  hearts  of  these  painters. 

Turning  to  the  class  of  pictures  which  take  their  subjects  from  daih'  life, 
these,  as  we  should  expect,  exhibit  the  same  light  and  cheerful  spirit.  We 
may,  with  Ilelbig,  divide  such  genre  pictures  into  two  principal  groups,  of 
which  one  may  be  called  tlic  I  Icllcnistic,  and  the  other  the  Romano-Campanian 
group.  The  latter  hold  to  the  fdrmcr  the  same  technical  n-lation  as  is  held 
by  the    rude    devotional    subjects    to    the    rest    in     the     inythologic    or     i)oetic 


132  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

class  of  work.  Most  of  them  are  roughly  painted,  and  with  direct  reference  to 
the  spaces  they  are  practically  intended  to  fill,  so  that  here  and  there  they  look 
almost  like  inn  or  shop  signs,  and  cannot  be  counted  as  works  even  of  higher 
craftsmanship,  much  less  of  real  art.  Thus  we  find  scenes  of  tavern  jollity, 
fullers  at  work  in  their  factories,  and  grossnesses  of  the  brothel.  The  cos- 
tumes are  those  of  real  life.  The  ideal  nude  of  Greek  art  never  occurs.  The 
artisan  element  prevails  in  the  choice  of  subjects  ;  mechanics  at  their  several 
occupations,  men  riding  and  driving,  incidents  of  the  market,  bakers,  fish- 
mongers, porters,  rope-dancers,  all  conceived  in  a  rough  realistic  style  and 
executed  for  the  most  part  without  grace  or  distinction.  To  this  class  belong 
those  pictures  of  the  brutal  gladiatorial  life  which  occur  particularly  on  the 
podhini  of  the  amphitheatre,  but  also  in  various  other  places,  at  Pompeii. 

Quite  different  are  \\\q  genre  pictures  of  what  we  have  called  the  Hellenistic 
class.  These  include  many  of  the  most  delightful  of  all  the  Campanian  wall- 
pictures.  Their  materials  are  not  so  much  taken  from  real  life  as  from  life 
as  it  appeared  to  the  fancy  of  the  artist.  A  certain  idealism  governs  their 
treatment,  which,  far  removed  from  the  coarseness  of  many  Dutch  ^rw;r-painters 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  turns  away  from  the  more  unpleasing  accidents  of 
literal  fact.  Ideal  principles  of  composition  and  form,  including  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  nude  in  cases  in  which  it  would  not  appear  in  real  life,  invest  these 
scenes  with  a  rare  and  lofty  charm.  They  are  full  of  a  fresh  and  simple 
beauty,  which  must  have  lent  incomparable  magic  to  the  lost  originals  of  which 
they  are  but  feebler  reproductions.  The  scenes  are  chiefly  from  the  life  of 
women,  youths,  and  children.  But  characteristically  enough,  we  miss  alto- 
gether those  groups  of  youths  stripped  for  the  exercises  of  the  gymnasium 
and  the  wrestling-school,  which  occur  so  constantly  on  Greek  vases.  A  softer 
and  more  effeminate  age  is  reflected  here.  A  woman,  for  instance,  sits  lost 
in  love-dreams,  with  Eros  leaning  at  her  side  ;  or  two  women  are  engaged  in 
friendly  dialogue  ;  or  a  girl  sits  at  her  painting  or  her  music.  Scenes  of  the 
toijet,  too,  are  not  forgotten.  Then  there  are  youths  and  rnaidens  assembled 
at  festive  gatherings  ;  or  explicit  love  scenes  of  more  or  less  levity  ;  as  well  as 
groups  of  poets  and  actors,  and  occasionally  actual  stage  scenes,  especially 
one  lovely  concert  piece  which  breathes  the  purest,  spirit  of  Greek  art.  To 
the  same  division,  lastly,  belong  many  of  those  small  groups  or  single  figures 
which  are  among  the  most  beautiful  examples  of  Campanian  painting. 

The  ancients  had  always  been  alive  to  caricature,  and  practised  it  in  vase 
painting  and  drawing  ;  nor  is  it  absent  from  their  wall-paintings.  It  usually 
takes  the  form  of  comically  significant  scenes  from  animal  life.  Among  these  is 
a  well-known  caricature  of  ^neas  escaping  from  Troy  with  his  son  Ascanius 
holding  his  hand,  and  his  father  Anchises  on  his  shoulder  (Fig.  38).  Monkeys 
often  stand  for  legendary  heroes. 

We  have  already  learned    from    the   ancient   writers   that   from  the  time  of 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY. 


133 


Alexander  painting  by  no  means  limited  itself  to  figure-pieces  only.  Accord- 
ingly we  find  among  the  Campanian  wall-pictures,  in  contrast  with  the  subjects 
hitherto  described,  a  great  number  of  landscapes,  animal  paintings,  and  subjects 
of  still  life.  As  regards  landscapes,  their  number  is  so  great  that  Winckel- 
mann  could  in  his  time  declare  that  most  of  the  Herculaneum  paintings  repre- 
sented landscapes,  "  harbours,  summer-houses,  woods,  fisheries,  and  views  ;"  and 
though  we  may  not  be  able  now  to  say  that  landscapes  compose  the  majority, 
still  they  compose  a  ver\'  considerable  part,  of  the  whole  stock.  This  we  have 
already  observed  to  be  the  case  at  Rome,  where  the  park  scenes  of  the  Prima 
Porta  and  Odyssey  landscapes  from  the  Esquiline  are  among  the  most  important 


piiiiiiiilip^^ 


Fig.  38. 

wall-paintings  that  exist;  and  it  is  the  case  with  regard  to  mosaic  pictures  as  well. 
Instead  of  assuming,  then,  as  used  to  be  done,  that  the  ancients  did  not  trouble 
themselves  about  landscape,  wc  are  in  a  position  to  prove  that,  at  least  in  the 
early  days  of  the  Empire,  this  was  a  favourite  branch  of  art.  Although  the 
motives  which  we  find  in  this  class  of  Campanian  picture  are  extraordinarily 
varied,  still  we  discover  running  through  them  all  a  distinct  general  character  of 
lightness,  cheerfulness,  and  charm.  It  is  not  the  wild,  lonely,  or  grandiose 
aspect  of  nature  that  we  find  here  ;  with  the  exception  of  a  few  deserts  tenanted 
only  by  wild  beasts,  and  selected  for  their  sake,  these  landscapes  always  bear 
distinct  traces  of  human  activity.  Country  shrines  and  sanctuaries,  from  the 
simple  sacred  tree  hung  with  dedicatory  offerings  to  the  great  temple  before 
which  the  cowherd  feeds  his    flocks,   are    rcprcsentetl    with    a   sentiment    full  of 


134 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


idyllic  peace.  Village  scenes,  with  broad  and  peopled  streets  adorned  with 
statues,  occur  alternately  with  vistas  of  city  architecture.  Views  of  towns  are 
generally  taken  from   the  water-side,  and   from  the  crowded  quays  we  see  har- 


T"ig.  39- 

hour  works  built  out  into  the  sea,  which  is  alive  with  every  variety  of  large  and 
small  craft.  The  villas,  built  close  to  the  shore  round  the  beautiful  Bay  of 
Naples,  come  out  in  these  pictures  with  all  their  peculiar  charm.  The  garden 
landscapes  before  mentioned  were  so  much  the  fashion  that  at  one  time,  accord- 
ing  to  these   views,  everyone   seems   to   have   had  the  garden  wall    of  his  villa 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  135 

decorated  in  this  way.  Over  all  these  scenes  alike  is  spread  the  same  pure 
blue  vault  of  sky.  Clouds  and  special  effects  of  light  are  avoided,  but  the  light 
and  shadow  sides  of  individual  objects  are  sharply  distinguished,  and  cast 
shadows  distinctly  rendered.  It  cannot  be  proved  that  particular  localities  are 
faithfully  reproduced.  This  is  probably  the  case,  however,  in  one  view  of  the 
square  in  front  of  the  amphitheatre  of  Pompeii,  which  bears  evidence  of  a  rough 
hand  little  troubled  by  any  Greek  instinct  of  linear  arrangement,  and  was  cer- 
tainly not  invented  for  the  sake  of  mere  pictorial  effect.  The  scenery  of  Lower 
Italy  finds,  however,  on  the  whole  a  just,  though  a  somewhat  broad  and  con- 
ventional, reflection  in  these  works  ;  especially  the  coast  scenery  with  all  the 
monuments  which  human  industry,  love  of  splendour,  and  religious  devotion 
had  erected, — with  these,  and  with  the  whole  bright  range  of  out-door  activities 
which  we  still  see  carried  on  in  the  same  enchanted  regions. 

Here,  as  at  Rome,  the  most  beautiful  and  interesting  lanclscapes  are  those 
which  contain  mythological  episodes.  The  myths  most  commonly  used  to  give 
animation  to  landscapes  were  the  Judgment  of  Paris,  the  Rescue  of  Andro- 
mede,  the  Fall  of  Ikaros,  the  Punishment  of  Dirke,  and  others — all,  of  course, 
myths  in  the  poetical  invention  of  which  a  landscape  background  is  from  the 
first  conceived  as  playing  an  essential  part.  When  the  incidents  of  the  myth 
pointed  to  a  given  locality,  the  painter,  who  could  scarcely  ever  have  seen 
it,  of  course  invented  a  landscape  according  to  his  own  fancy,  generally  one 
appropriate  to  the  action,  but  not  unfrequently,  misled  by  his  decorative  pur- 
pose, one  which  fails  to  be  appropriate. 

Lastly,  among  pictures  of  still  life,  we  find  every  object  that  has  been  treated 
by  the  modern  painters  of  the  seventeenth  century — kitchen  utensils  of  all  sorts, 
fish  and  flesh,  dead  and  live  fowl,  lobsters,  crabs,  mussels,  fruit  in  the  richest 
variety,  flowers  and  foliage,  vessels  and  ware  of  every  shape,  transparent  glasses 
(the  rendering  of  which  is  recorded  as  an  achievement  of  later  Greek  painting), 
cans,  pots,  and  the  like.  But  we  also  find  objects  peculiar  to  antiquity,  as 
toilet  caskets,  rolls  of  manuscript,  and  all  kinds  of  writing  materials,  masks, 
sacrificial  implements,  and  so  forth.  It  is  impossible  to  determine  which  of 
these  things  were  painted  for  their  own  sakes,  and  which  with  a  purely  orna- 
mental purpose. 

If,  now,  we  inquire  what  position  in  the  history  of  art  is  held  by  this  whole 
mass  of  most  various  and  most  interesting  work,  we  must  first  determine  the 
time  of  their  execution.  As  a  lower  limit  we  can  fix  with  certainty  the  date 
of  the  destruction  of  the  three  cities  by  the  fatal  eruption  of  Vesuvius,  namely 
A.D.  79.  None  of  these  Campanian  wall-paintings  can  be  of  later  date  than 
that.  For  those  at  Pompeii  we  may  also  fix  a  higher  limit  with  some  confi- 
dence. The  most  ancient  wall  decorations  may  belong  to  about  B.C.  yS  ;  but 
the  majority  must  be  of  much  later  date,  for  in  a.d.  63,  fifteen  years  before  the 
complete  destruction  of  the  city,  it  had  already  suffered  very  disastrous  injury 


136  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

from  an  earthquake.  Therefore  it  is  probable  that  the  greater  part  of  the 
eScisting  wall-paintings  of  Pompeii  belong  to  the  rebuilt  city,  that  is,  to  the 
years  between  A.D.  63  and  79.  This  of  course  gives  no  clue  for  the  paintings 
of  Herculaneum  and  Stabiae.  Special  research  into  their  style  and  manner 
may  make  it  possible  to  assign  something  like  a  certain  date  to  these  also  ;  but 
for  the  present  such  research  has  not  been  carried  far  enough  to  yield  any 
positive  results. 

The  painters  of  these  works  were  Campanian  handicraftsmen,  who  did  not 
consider  themselves  artists  in  the  higher  sense  of  the  word,  as  we  can  tell  by  the 
fact  that,  as,  with  one  exception  at  Rome,  so  here,  none  of  them  has  ventured 
to  put  his  signature  to  his  work.  Nevertheless,  some  were  extremely  skilful 
decorators,  and  their  works  fall  very  little  short  of  the  quality  of  true  fine  art. 
But  most  were  no  better  than  indifferent  workmen  ;  and  others  never  got 
beyond  the  merest  daubing.  It  is  by  mistake  that  some  students  have  been 
disposed  to  recognise  in  the  paintings  of  Pompeii  no  more  than  three  or  four 
different  hands  in  all. 

Whether  these  craftsman  were  of  Greek,  Roman,  or  Oscan  origin,  it  is 
impossible  to  say.  On  some  few  pictures  Greek  inscriptions  have  been  found. 
In  any  case  the  spirit  of  the  work  is  certainly  Hellenistic.  The  best  paintings 
must  be  considered  as  imitations  of  Greek  originals  ;  but  as  it  has  only  been 
possible  in  a  very  few  cases  to  refer  them  back  with  any  probability  to  re- 
corded prototypes  by  known  masters,  in  like  manner  it  has  scarcely  been  made 
probable  that  such  prototypes  belonged  to  an  earlier  time  than  that  of  Alex- 
ander. The  subjects  and  designs  of  most  of  the  paintings  have  far  rather  the 
character  of  the  Hellenistic  age  of  his  successors.  When,  for  instance,  a  paint- 
ing like  that  of  lo  guarded  by  Argos  and  rescued  by  Hermes  is  found  not  in 
Pompeii  only,  but  also  in  Rome,  it  is  evident  that  the  painters  of  both  have 
followed  a  common  original.  But  even  within  the  Campanian  towns  them- 
selves we  find  many  repetitions  of  the  same  picture,  always  with  more  or  less 
variation,  and  this  shows  that  the  painter  had  no  great  respect  for  the  original, 
which,  indeed,  he  may  sometimes  have  scarcely  seen  for  himself,  so  that  he 
dealt  with  its  composition  according  to  his  own  humour  and  the  exigencies  of 
his  particular  decorative  task.  We  may  perhaps  even  conjecture  that  the 
designs  have  sometimes  been  supplied  by  pattern  books  and  models  passed  from 
hand  to  hand  in  the  workshop. 

Moreover,  those  figures  and  little  panels  which  form  an  inherent  part  of  the 
painted  architectural  design,  then  the  latest  style  of  decoration,  belong  also 
according  to  their  place  of  discovery  to  the  time  of  the  Empire  ;  and  the  land- 
scapes, among  which  repetitions  are  scarcely  ever  found,  can  be  only  generically, 
and  that  only  in  part,  copies  of  the  Hellenistic  models.  That  the  specific  views, 
both  large  and  small,  of  this  class  were  designed  in  Campania  is  proved  by 
their  close  resemblance  to  the  coast  scenery  of  that  country. 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  137 

It  is  possible  that  the  trade  of  house  decoration  in  Rome  and  Lower  Italy- 
was  generally  conducted  by  Greeks.  But  in  any  case,  the  great  mass  of 
decorative  paintings  and  single  pictures  which  show  Hellenistic  influence,  stand, 
both  in  conception  and  form,  in  such  striking  contrast  to  those  rude  devotional 
pieces  and  pieces  from  every  day  life  which  we  have  described  as  Romano- 
Campanian  ^'•^;/;r-paintings, — and  no  less  to  views  of  places  like  the  amphi- 
theatre view, — that  on  the  ground  of  such  contrast  alone  a  clear  distinction 
may  be  established  between  native  painting  and  Hellenistic  work. 

By  what  technical  method  these  paintings,  which  have  withstood  the  ravages 
of  nearly  two  thousand  years,  were  fixed  upon  the  walls,  is  a  much  vexed 
question.  It  has  been  debated  over  and  over  again  whether  they  were  done 
in  fresco,  with  wax,  resin,  or  distemper,  or  by  some  mixed  mode  of  treatment. 
Recent  researches  have  to  some  extent  cleared  up  the  matter,  and  at  any  rate 
disposed  for  good  of  the  claims  both  of  resin  and  wax.  One  careful  inquirer, 
Donner,  holds  that  the  medium  is  almost  exclusively  buon  fresco,  both  in  the 
ground  and  in  the  work  which  is  painted  on  it  with  so  much  thickness  of 
impasto,  and  which  sometimes  breaks  separately  away.  But  as  artists  them- 
selves have  held  and  still  hold,  as  the  result  of  personal  inspection,  different 
opinions  on  the  nature  of  the  processes  employed,  a  decision  is  difficult  to 
arrive  at.  Our  own  view  is  that  fresco  holds  by  far  the  first  place  in  the 
execution  of  these  wall-paintings,  but  not  the  exclusive  place  claimed  for  it  by 
Donner.  With  reference  to  the  portions  painted  in  solid  impasto,  which,  when 
they  break  away,  disclose  intact  the  coloured  preparation  beneath  them,  it 
seems  more  likely  that  they  were  laid  on  the  prepared  ground  after  it  was 
already  dry,  and  by  means  of  a  different  vehicle. 

When  we  are  told  of  the  great  durability  shown  by  these  paintings,  we 
must  remember  that  most  of  them,  in  Pompeii  at  least,  were  probably  painted 
only  a  short  time  before  the  destruction  of  the  city  ;  that  a  great  many  have 
been  found  in  a  very  bad  condition  at  the  time  of  their  excavation  ;  and  that, 
after  being  deprived  of  their  earthy  protection,  they  usually  fade  and  disappear 
very  quickly  unless  special  precautions  are  taken  to  protect  them.  Lastly,  if 
we  are  asked  what,  judged  by  the  standard  of  modern  critical  opinion,  is  the 
artistic  merit  of  all  these  pictures,  we  have  virtually  given  the  answer  in  our 
repeated  assertion  that  they  do  not  rise  above  the  level  of  skilful  decorative 
handicraft,  and  that  even  within  these  limits  the  quality  of  their  execution  is 
very  unequal.  We  shall  find  the  most  unmixed  satisfaction  in  the  single,  often 
floating,  figures  and  groups  which  stand  out  without  definite  background  from 
the  coloured  surfaces  of  the  wall.  Pure  forms  and  pleasing  motives  are  here 
free  to  affect  us  without  the  presence  of  any  disturbing  element.  The  ancient 
genius,  which  was  inclined  by  nature  rather  to  the  plastic  than  to  the 
pictorial,  had  here  only  to  make  its  own,  ui)  to  a  certain  point,  the  technical 
acquisitions  of  the  period  between  Apollodoros  and  Apelles.      In  the  pictures 

T 


138  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

* 

having  definite  backgrounds  and  a  complete  pictorial  purpose,  the  evident 
blunders  in  perspective,  the  false  foreshortenings,  rudely  managed  distances, 
and  inefficient  conduct  of  light  and  shade,  are  often  very  disturbing.  The  skill 
of  the  craftsman  did  not  reach  far  enough  to  give  to  these  larger  compositions 
the  necessary  qualities  of  recession  and  pictorial  relief.  Nevertheless,  with  all 
their  shortcomings,  these  comparatively  humble  works  enable  us  to  infer  that 
the  mastery  attained  in  the  higher  branches  of  painting  over  the  technical 
secrets  of  the  art  must  have  been  very  considerable,  more  considerable  than  we 
should  perhaps  feel  justified  in  asserting  if  we  drew  our  opinions  only  from 
ancient  writings. 

If,  taking  another  point  of  view,  we  regard  these  remains  of  mural  painting 
in  the  light  in  which  alone  they  were  meant  to  be  regarded,  as  inherent  parts 
of  larger  schemes  of  coloured  decoration,  we  shall  begin  to  enjoy  them  in  a 
more  unprejudiced  spirit,  and  estimate  at  their  true  value  many  apparent 
conventionalisms  in  their  composition  and  colouring. 

First — as  to  composition,  we  must  observe  the  important  part  played  by  the 
principle  of  balance,  whereby  the  paintings  of  the  several  walls  of  an  apartment 
are  designed  as  pendants  to  one  another.  Not  unfrequently,  and  especially  in 
the  best  houses,  pieces  of  about  the  same  size,  and  placed  in  the  same  position 
on  the  several  walls,  are  characterised  as  pendants  by  their  subjects  ;  inasmuch 
as  they  depict  various  scenes  of  one  myth,  or  kindred  scenes  from  different 
though  analogous  myths,  or  groups  which  repeat  the  same  idea  in  another 
shape,  according  to  a  practice  common  to  the  art  of  all  times  and  races.  But 
very  much  oftener  the  choice  of  two  works  as  pendants  rests  on  purely  decora- 
tive grounds,  such  as  the  external  similarity  of  their  composition,  the  corre- 
spondence of  linear  arrangement  in  their  landscape,  the  resemblance  of  their 
figures  in  number,  position,  or  costume  ;  so  severely  did  the  ancients  require 
balance  and  symmetry  in  pictures  intended  in  the  first  instance  for  wall  decora- 
tions,^^ Indeed,  to  satisfy  this  decorative  instinct,  scenes  which  called  for  no 
landscape  background  were  often  provided  with  one  nevertheless,  or  figures 
were  added  to  or  taken  away  from  femiliar  subjects,  merely  for  the  sake  of 
making  two  pendants  balance  one  another.  We  can  appreciate  the  ancient 
wall-paintings  more  intelligently  since  it  has  been  shown  that  the  deviations 
which  we  frequently  find  in  their  treatment  of  one  and  the  same  subject  — 
deviations  which  had  hitherto  been  set  down  to  arbitrary  whim  or  ignorance  of 
the  decorator — are  thus  governed  by  a  definite  principle. 

Next,  as  to  colour.  Here  also  the  principal  object  of  the  painter  was 
to  produce  a  harmonious  unity.  Each  detail  was  subordinated  to  the 
general  effect.  Hence  it  was  above  all  things  necessary  that  each  separate 
picture  should  harmonise  with  the  colour  of  the  wall  from  which  it  stood  out. 
To  do  justice  to  a  real  masterpiece  of  independent  painting,  the  colour  of  the 
wall  upon  which  it  was  hung,  or  into  which  it  was  inserted,  would,  as  a  matter 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  139 

of  course,  be  arranged  to  suit  it.  But  where  the  picture  is  only  a  part  of  the 
decoration  of  the  wall,  the  reverse  would  naturally  take  place.  As  the 
ground  of  the  particular  wall  was  red,  yellow,  blue,  green,  black,  or  white, 
the  colouring  of  the  picture,  if  it  was  to  keep  its  place  at  all,  would  have  to 
be  arranged  accordingly.  On  a  black  or  white  ground,  the  purest  natural 
colours  would  of  course  predominate.  And  on  coloured  grounds  it  is  striking 
to  notice  how  skilfully,  sometimes  with  an  instinctive  observation  of  optical 
laws  which  have  been  discovered  and  formulated  by  modern  science,  the  artist 
has  known  how  to  give  his  picture  the  right  tone  and  scheme  of  colour.  The 
backgrounds  especially  were  kept  very  simple  in  obedience  to  this  principle*. 
A  picture  often  seems  as  if  it  were  painted  almost  in  monochrome,  grey  on 
grey,  blue  on  blue,  or  brown  on  brown.  Just  as  often  it  may  be  really  in 
monochrome,  but  taken  in  connection  with  the  general  tone  of  the  wall  may 
nevertheless  produce  an  effect  of  various  colour.  Whether,  then,  with  \'itruvius, 
we  condemn  this  whole  style  of  trivial  chamber  decoration,  or  whether  we  bring 
an  impartial  eye  to  its  charm  and  its  richness  of  colour,  we  cannot  at  any  rate 
deny  that,  whatever  the  value  of  tlie  separate  pictures  in  tliemselves,  they 
are  introduced  into  the  general  scheme  with  a  very  high  degree  of  decorative 
skill. 


CHAPTER   VI. 


CONCLUSION. 


General  result  of  a  comparison  of  existing  remains  with  ancient  writings — Standard  of  perfection  in  paint- 
ing— Not  approached  by  Oriental  races — But  attained  by  the  Greeks  in  the  period  between  Polygnotos 
and  Apelles — Greek  deficiencies  in  the  science  of  perspective — And  in  atmosphere — Attainments  of 
Greeks  in  comparison  with  those  of  modern  painting — Decline  of  the  art. 

If  we  endeavour,  in  conclusion,  to  harmonise  the  conclusions  derived  from  an 
examination  of  the  existing  remains  of  Greco-Roman  painting  with  the  written 
statements  of  antiquity  on  the  subject,  we  shall  find  ourselves  in  presence  of 
a  eeneral  result  of  the  richest  and  most  brilliant  kind.  The  achievement  of  the 
Greeks  in  painting,  as  in  all  other  arts,  was  one,  as  we  have  already  said,  which 
it  is  almost  impossible  to  over-rate ;  and  their  deserts  come  out  in  the  clearest 
manner  if  we  compare  their  works  with  those  of  the  Oriental  nations. 

As  a  measure  of  the  degree  of  perfection  attained  at  any  given  time  by 
painting, — apart  from  the  higher  intellectual  characteristics  which  that  art  and 
sculpture  in  their  accomplished  forms  possess  in  common, — we  have  all  along 
taken  the  amount  of  correctness  with  which  the  painter  succeeds  in  represent- 
ing upon  a  flat  surface  a  portion  of  the  actual  visible  world  as  it  really 
seems.  Colours  and  forms  have,  according  to  this  standard,  to  be  expressed 
with  equal  completeness,  just  as  they  are  in  fact  reproduced  with  equal  dis- 
tinctness on  the  retina  of  the  normal  human  eye.  The  laws  of  linear,  as  well 
as  those  of  atmospheric  or  colour  perspective,  must  be  observed  with  conscious 
and  deliberate  accuracy.  The  utmost  beauty  of  nature  as  she  is  or  might  be 
must  confront  us,  from  within  the  narrow  limits  of  the  coloured  and  illuminated 
surface,  with  a  power  to  impress  and  to  delight  us  equal  to  her  own. 

Painting  in  this  complete  sense  of  the  word  has  never  been  known  to  the 
Oriental  races.  They  have,  according  to  their  natural  gifts,  both  founded  and 
rightly  applied  the  arts  of  architecture  and  sculpture.  But  in  painting  they 
have  been  mere  gropers,  and  have  never  arrived  at  an  inward  and  outward 
unity  of  representation,  or  to  one  which  reproduced  a  portion  of  the  visible 
world  on  wall  or  panel  in  correct  perspective  and  colour.  Along  this  road  it 
was  reserved  for  the  genius  of  Greece  to  lead  the  way. 

Ancient  writings  as  well  as  existing  remains  bear  witness  that  Greek  painting 
too  had  its  childish  and  primitive  beginnings,  in  outlines  without  colour,  and  with 
no  forecast  of  the  dormant  powers  it  possessed.     But  little  by  little  these  powers 


ANCIENT  GREECE  AND  ITALY.  141 

were  awakened.  One  discovery  after  another  was  made,  one  difficulty  after 
another  overcome.  Even  Polygnotos  had  reached  a  point  in  his  art  at  which 
no  master  of  any  other  race  had  ever  stood.  Among  Oriental  nations,  fine  art 
had  never  separated  itself  from  common  handicraft,  and  masters  died  nameless. 
It  was  in  free  Greece  that  artists  first  grew  to  world-wide  fame  and  world- 
wide power  of  giving  delight.  Polygnotos  was  the  earliest  painter  who  stood 
upon  this  pinnacle,  though  his,  in  truth,  was  as  yet  no  unshackled  art,  and 
though  perspective,  light-and-shade,  and  the  natural  treatment  of  colour  were 
still  quite  undeveloped.  But  soon  after  Polygnotos  these  secrets  were  mastered 
and  changed  the  character  of  painting.  One  problem  after  another  was 
solved  ;  Apelles  reached  the  highest  point  of  technical  knowledge  attainable  by 
the  Greeks  ;  and  if  we  compare  the  ancient  texts  with  the  most  accomplished 
of  the  existing  mural  paintings,  humble  examples  of  daily  handicraft  as  these 
are,  we  shall  have  no  doubt  that  Greek  painting  had  at  last  fully  acquired  the 
power  to  produce  adequate  semblances  of  living  fact  and  nature. 

It  is  indeed  probable  that  the  more  complicated  problems  of  scientific 
perspective,  such  as  were  discovered  in  the  fifteenth  century,  were  not  yet  fully 
solved  by  the  Greeks.  But  artists  chose  motives  in  which  these  difficulties  were 
not  much  noticed,  and  intuition  in  many  cases  supplied  the  want  of  science. 
If  we  find  even  in  slight  repetitions  of  ancient  pictures  that  the  perspective, 
though  never  perfectly  correct,  very  often  approaches  correctness,  we  may 
well  believe  that  the  artistic  instinct  of  Apelles  and  his  contemporaries  suf- 
ficed where  tiieir  knowledge  may  have  failed. 

It  is  moreover  obvious,  as  Helbig  has  already  insisted,  that  the  Greeks 
never  fully  acquired  that  feeling  for  the  vitality  and  charm  of  atmosphere  which 
often  plays  a  principal  part  in  modern  painting.  The  different  moods  which 
depend  on  different  densities  of  the  atmosphere,  on  rain-clouds  mounting  up 
the  sky,  on  the  position  of  the  sun,  on  the  manifold  changing  effects  of  light 
— these  moods  which  we  are  at  first  inclined  to  identify  with  our  own  varying 
moods  of  sentiment,  the  Greeks  took  in  with  less  closeness  of  observation,  or 
at  any  rate  with  less  sympathy,  than  ourselves.  As  a  rule,  they  placed  their 
horizon  abnormally  high  according  to  our  ideas,  and  distributed  the  various 
objects  over  an  ample  space,  in  clear  and  equable  light.  At  Pompeii,  we  may 
no  doubt  point  to  some  pictures  with  a  sunset  glow,  but  we  must  be  careful, 
in  these  exceptional  cases,  not  to  mistake  for  an  atmospheric  motive  that  which 
is  in  truth  'only  a  decorative  motive  in  the  .sense  we  have  already  mentioned. 
And  after  all,  this  deficiency  or  limitation  could  only  be  much  felt  in  kuulscapc, 
and  would  not  tell  one  way  or  another  upon  great  figure  compositions. 

As  for  the  relation  of  ancient  Greek  painting  to  modern  painting  as  it  has 
been  practised  since  the  .sixteenth  century, — we  may  be  sure,  after  what  has  been 
.said,  that  if  it  were  granted  us  to  look  upon  some  great  series  of  masterpieces 
by  a  Greek  artist,  we   should  not   be  struck  by  any  technical    shortcomings   in 


142  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

his  work,  but  should  place  it  without  hesitation  by  the  side  of  the  most  finished 
performances  of  all  times  or  races.  It  is  true  that  in  certain  orders  of  work 
we  might  perhaps  perceive  errors  of  perspective  and  weaknesses  of  colouring  ; 
and  if  the  old  Greek  masters  could  see  some  of  the  most  accomplished  modern 
pictures,  they  would  doubtless  themselves  acknowledge  that,  though  we  may 
not  have  attained  the  noble  style  and  feeling  for  beauty  which  their  choicer 
works  possess,  we  have  still  made  advances  and  opened  fields  unknown  to  them 
in  the  pictorial  grasp  of  nature,  and  in  the  mode  of  reproducing  her  aspects  with 
technical  correctness  on  a  plane  surface.  The  high  renown  of  having  been  the 
first  to  create  a  true  art  of  painting,  will,  however,  not  in  future  be  denied  to 
the  Greeks.  This  art  owes  them,  indeed,  more  even  than  the  other  arts,  in 
which  their  productions  did  not  so  much  exemplify  anything  new  in  itself  as 
the  best  that  could  be  done  upon  foundations  already  laid. 

But  the  attainments  of  the  mighty  art  of  Greece  fell  away  gradually  and 
were  forgotten.  Painting  petrified  or  stiffened  into  routine.  More  than  fifteen 
hundred  years  had  to  pass  over  the  world  before  a  second  age  of  painting 
should  come  round  like  its  first  great  age  in  Greece  ;  and  the  highest  achieve- 
ments of  this  later  time  owed  no  small  part  of  their  glory  and  perfection  to 
the  renewed  study  of  those  of  antiquity. 


APPENDIX. 


1.  For  a  discussion  of  the  primitive  textile  industries  of  the  East,  and  their  relation  to  the  general 
history  of  art,  see  Bottiger,  Archdologie  der  Malerei ;  and  more  particularly,  Semper,  Der  Stil,  2d  ed. 

2.  The  foundations  of  a  connected  history  of  Greek  painters  were  laid  by  Brunn  in  his  Geschichte  der 
griechischen  Kiinstler,  vol.  ii.  A  new  edition  of  Prof.  Brunn's  work  is  understood  to  be  in  preparation  ; 
in  the  meantime  a  large  number  of  monographs  have  added  to  our  knowledge  of  the  subject.  The  original 
sources  from  ancient  literature  (of  which  the  most  important  is  Pliny,  Hist.  N'at.,  b.  xxxv.)  have  been 
collected  by  Prof  Overbeck  in  \\\%  Aiitike  Sclu-iftqudlen,  Leipzig,  1868. 

3.  For  instance  :  Goethe,  Polygnofs  Gemdlde  (in  vol.  28  of  Hempel's  ed.);  Riepenhausen,  Peinttcres  de 
Polygnote,  etc.,  Rome,  1826  ;  Otto  Jahn,  Die  Gemdlde des  Polygnotos,  Leipzig,  1841  ;  F.  G.  Welcker,  Com- 
position der  Polygnotischen  Gemdlde,  Berlin,  1848;  W.  Gebhardt,  Die  Co7nposition  der  Gemdlde  des  Polygitot, 
Gottingen,  1872.  Naturally,  the  critical  student  will  find  himself  unable  to  place  implicit  confidence  in 
any  of  the  reconstructions  which  have  so  long  afforded  a  tempting  occupation  to  archaeologists.  Neither 
are  we  sufficiently  informed  concerning  the  technical  method  of  those  early  Greek  mural  decorations, 
which  may  either  have  been  painted  direct  upon  the  wall  or  upon  movable  panels  subsequently  let  in. 

4.  For  a  further  discussion  of  the  position  of  Agatharchos  in  the  history  of  art,  see  particularly  Brunn, 
ii.  81  sqq.  ;  also  Woermann,  Die  Laiidschaft  in  der  Kiinst  der  antiken  Vdlker. 

5.  J.  A.  Letronne,  Lettres  d'nn  auliquaire  a  un  artiste,  Paris,  1836- 1 840;  Raoul  Rochette,  Peifitiires 
antiques,  1836;  Lettres  archeologiques,  1840. 

6.  To  Prof.  Brunn  the  student  is  peculiarly  indebted  for  the  manner  in  which  he  has  enabled  us  to 
realise  the  artistic  character  of  Zeuxis,  GescJi.  der  griech.  Kiinstler,  ii.  75-97. 

7.  Compare  Brunn,  ii.  126  ;  Helbig,  Untersuchungen  iiher  die  Campanische  IVandmalerei,  pp.  65,  So, 
81,  326-39.  And  see  Archdologische  Zeitimg,  1869,  PI.  14,  for  a  mosaic  of  this  subject  found  in  Cata- 
lonia, which  seems  more  nearly  related  than  the  Pompeian  example  to  the  original  of  Timanthes. 

8.  Compare  Brunn,  ii.  130-158,  289-293;  Urlichs,  Rheinisches  Museum,  xvi.  1861  ;  Wustmann, 
ibid,  xxiii.   1868;   Michaelis,  C.  T.,  Arch.  ZeiiJing,  N.F.  viii.   1S68,  pp.  31  sqq. 

9.  Byblis,  according  to  the  suggestion  of  Dilthey  ;  but  Urlichs  understands  the  whole  p.assage 
differently.     See /v'//,///.  .)///.r.,   1870,  pp.  151,  507;    1S71,  pp.  283,  590. 

10.  See  Engelmann,  Arehdol.  Zeitimg,  1871,  p.  37,  PI.  xxx.  ;   Helbig,  Uniersuchungen,  p.   \^\  sqq. 

11.  See  P>rulin,  ii.  202  sqq.,  and  in  'Meyer's  Kiinstler-Lexikon,  sul>7'oee  AY><i\\es  ;  G.  Wustmann,  Apelhs 
Leben  und  IVeike,  Leipzig,  1870  ;  Stephani,  Compte-rendu  de  la  commission  imp.  d\trchhlogie  de  St. 
Pitersbourg,  1870  and  187 1  ;  and  Benndorf,  Mittheihtngen  des  deutsch.  Arch.  Inst,  zu  A  then,  i.  51. 

12.  Petronius,  .Satyr.  84. 

13.  For  a  special  study  on  the  position  of  this  art  in  anti'iuity,  see  Woermann,  Die  Landschaft  in  der 
Kunst  der  antiken  Vdlker,  1876. 

14.  Compare  Urlichs  :   Die  Malerei  in  Rom  vor  Cirsar's  Dictatur,  Wiirzburg,   1876. 

15.  Among  the  multifarious  and  interesting  lileraUne  connected  witii  the  "  Picture-galleries  "  of  the 
Philostrati,  we  may  especially  mention  the  following: — Goethe,  vol.  xxviii.  (ed.  Ilempel),  p.  269  sqq.  : 
Friedrichs,  Die  Philostratischen  Bilder,  Erlangcn,  i860;  with  supplementary  observations  in  Flcckcisen's 
Jalirbiicher,  1 863,  p.  179  sqq.  ;  and  Brunn's  rejoinders  in  the  same  iioriodical,  1 86 1  and  1871  ;  F.  Matz, 
De  Philoslratorum  in  describend.  imagg.  fide,   lionii,    1867  ;   also  in  Philologus,  xxxi.   585  sqq. 

16.  'Jlic  literature  of  Greek  vases  and  vase-painting  is  very  extensive.  Among  the  most  important 
works  maybe  mentioned: — Millingen,  Peintures  antiques  et  ini-dites  de  Tases  grecs,  Rome,  1813  ;  Lenor- 
mant  and  de  Witte,  Elite  de  monuments  ccramographiqucs,  Paris,   1844- 1 86 1  ;   Gerhard,  Auscrlesem  griech- 


144  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

ische  Vasenbilder,  Berlin,  1840- 1 854;  Id.  Etntskische  und  campatiische  Vasenbilder  des  k.  Museuvis  zu 
Berlin,  Berlin,  1843;  ^^-  Griechische  und  Etntskische  Tritikschalen,  Berlin,  1843;  Id.  Apulischc  I'cisen- 
bilder,  etc.,  Berlin,  1845  5  Conze,  Melische  T konge/dsse,  Leipzig,  1862  ;  Benndorf,  Griechische  und  Sicil- 
ische  Vasenbilder,  1869  ff.  ;  Heydemann,  Griechische  Vasenbilder,  1870.  Besides  these  comprehensive 
publications,  a  vast  number  of  vases  have  from  time  to  time  been  figured  in  the  Monumenti  of  the  Roman 
Archaeological  Institute;  as  well  as  in  various  monographs.  The  best  connected  history  of  the  art,  even 
though  in  one  or  two  points  superseded  by  recent  research,  is  the  introduction  to  Otto  Jahn's  Catalogue  of 
the  Munich  collection  of  vases.  See  also  Dr.  Birch's  History  of  Ancient  Pottery,  2d  ed.  An  excellent 
work  on  the  system  of  forms  and  decorations  in  Greek  ceramic  art  is  Lau,  Th.,  Die  griechischen  Vasen, 
ihr  Formen  und  Decorations-System,  Leipzig  ;  with  an  introduction  by  Brunn. 

1 7.  See  Conze,  Zur  Geschichte  der  Anfdnge  griechischer  Kunst ;  and  Hirschfeld,  in  Annali  dell  Insti- 
itito,  1872. 

18.  See  Brunn,  Probleme  in  der  Geschichte  der  Vasenmalerei,  1 87 1.  To  this  treatise  reference  is  fre- 
quently made  in  the  text. 

19.  See  Flasch,  Die  Polychromie  der  griechischen  Vasenbilder,  Wiirzburg,  1875. 

20.  See  Dumont,  in  Monuments  grecs  publics  par  V Association  des  etudes  grecques,  1873  ;  and  in 
Gazette  archeologi que,  1875  and  1876. 

21.  The  best  general  account  of  these  works  is  that  given  by  Schone,  Ann.  delP  Inst.,  1866,  p. 
1 50  sqq. 

22.  Compare  Emil  Braun.  Die  ficoronische  Cisfa,  1848  ;  and  Otto  Jahn,  Die  ficoronische  Cista, 
1852. 

23.  Consult  the  comprehensive  illustrated  publication  of  Gerhard,  Etruskische  Spiegel :  also  the  same 
author,  Ueber  die  A/etallspiegel  der  Etrusker,  1838  and  1859. 

24.  Pliny,  Hist.  Nat.  xxxvi.   184. 

25.  See  Welcker,  Kleitie  Schriften,  460-476  ;  Zahn,  Die  schdnsten  Ornaviente,  etc.,  N.F.,  PI.  91-93  j 
and  compare  Overbeck,  Ponipei,  2d  ed.,  p.  225  sqq. 

26.  Published  by  Pieralisi,  Rome,  1858  ;  and  compare  Engelmann,  Archdol.  Zeitung,  1875,  and  Woer 
mann  in  the  work  supr.  cit.,  p.  304  sqq. 

27.  See  Penna  :    Viaggio  pittorico  della  Villa  Ad)-iana,  Rome,  1826. 

28.  See  Ann.  delV  Inst.,   1838. 

29.  See  Helbig,  Wandgenidlde  der  vom  Vesuv  verschiitteten  Stddte  Campaniens,  PI.  170b,  1241, 
1405,  1464;  and  Antichita  d'' Ercolano,  1757,  PI.   i,  2,  3,  4 ;  and  compare  Semper,  Der  Stil,  i.  470. 

30.  Published  by  Gaedechens  in  Giornale  degli  Scavi  di  Pompei,  N.S.,  1872,  ii.  PI.  9. 

31.  See  Cavalierly,  Sopra  un'  antica  pittura,  etc.,  Cortona,  1852,  and  Lenormant  in  Gazette  archiolo- 
gique,  1877,  p.  41  sqq.  Lenormant  holds  to  the  old  belief  that  the  picture  has  been  painted  with  a  vehicle 
of  resin  and  wax ;  but  both  the  technical  method  and  the  authenticity  of  the  work  have  been  much  disputed. 
[The  most  recent  contribution  to  the  literature  of  the  Muse  of  Cortona  is  that  of  Heydemann,  Alittheilungen 
aus  den  Antikensammlungen  in  ober-und  Mittel-Itolien,  Halle,  1879,  p.  IIO:  the  author  decisively  rejects 
the  work  as  modern,  but  on  critical  and  historical  grounds  which  to  the  present  editor  do  not  seem  quite 
convincing,  and  on  the  technical  ground  of  the  supposed  use  (which  has  yet  to  be  verified  by  analysis)  of 
an  oil  medium.] 

32.  Published  by  Kliigmann,  Mon.  delP  Inst.,  1873,  PI.  60. 

33.  Mai,  Iliados  fragmenta  antiquissima,  Milan,  1819  ;  Id.,  Homeri  Iliados  pictures,  etc.,  Rome, 
1835- 

34.  The  pictures  of  both  MSS.  are  given  together  in  Mai,  VirgUa  pictures  antiques,  Rome,  1835  » 
and  compare  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle,  History  of  Painting  in  Italy,  i.  40. 

35.  See  Gregorovius,  Beschreibung  der  Stadt  Rom,  ii.  2,  346. 

36.  On  the  last  two  MSS.  consult  Waagen,  Ktinstwerke  und  KUnstler  im  Paris,  p.  260;  and  Id., 
T7-easures  of  Art  in  Great  Britain,  iii.  68. 

37.  Published  by  its  owner.  Dr.  Carl  Bone,  in  the  Festschrift  der  xxii.  Sammlung  Versammlung 
deiitscher  Philologen  zu  Wiesbaden,  Bonn,   1877. 

38.  The  chief  publications  of  Etruscan  mural  paintings  are  those  which  have  from  time  to  time 
appeared  in  the  Mon.  dell  hist.  For  accounts  of  their  history,  see  Brunn,  Ann.  delP  Inst.,  1859  and 
1866   and  Helbig,  ibid.,   1863  and  1870. 


APPENDIX.  145 

39.  Mon.  delV  Inst.,  vi.  PI.  30.  47.  Mon.  deW  Inst.,  1831,  1.  PI.   33. 

40.  Museum  Grcgoriannm,  i.  PI.  99.  48.  Mil.  Greg.,  i.  PI.   loi. 

41.  Ibid,  i,  PI.  103.  49.  Mon.  deir  Inst.,  1850,  v.  PI,  14-16,  33-34. 

42.  Ibid.  i.  PI.  ICXJ.  50.  Conestabile,  Fitture  ninrali,  etc.,  1865 

43.  Mon.  deir  Inst.,  1870,  ix.  PI.  14,  i.  51.  Mon.  delV  Inst.,  1859,  PI.  31,  32. 

44.  Ibid.  1870,  ix.  PI.  13.  52.  Ibid.    1 870,  ix.  14,  2,  and  15. 

45.  Mon.  deir  Inst.,  1863,  xi.  vii.  PI.  79.  53.  Ibid.    1834,  ii.  PI.  4. 

46.  Ibid.  1831,  i.  PI.  32.  54.  Vitruvius,  vii.  5. 

55.  ?>tt  BidLtti7to  della  Commissione  arckeologica  communale  di  Roma,  1877;  PI.  i,  2,3. 

56.  The  most  important  and  most  easily  accessible  publications  are  the  following  : — Bartoli,  P.S.  and 
F.,  Le pitture  antiche  dclle  Grotte  di  Roma  e  del  Sepolcro  de''  Nasoni,  with  text  by  BeUori  and  De  la  Chausse, 
Rome,  1706;  Bartoli,  P.S.,  Gli  antichi sepolcri owero  Mausolei Romani,  Rome,  1727;  Ponce,  N.,  Collection 
des  tableaux  et  arabesques  antiques  trouves  a  Rome  dans  les  thermes  de  Titus;  Penna,  A.,  Viaggio pittorico 
della  Villa  Adriana  di  Tivoli,  1826. 

57.  Mon.  deir  Inst.,  iii.,  PI.  9,  10,  11,  21,  22. 

58.  Holstenius,  L.,  Vetus  pictum  Nymphatim  exhibens,  Rome,  1676. 

59.  [This  subject  of  a  man  twisting  a  rope  of  straw,  and  a  she-ass  eating  it  as  fast  as  he  twists  it, 
had  been  originally  painted  by  Polygnotos,  and  was  supposed  to  be  an  allegory  of  bad  housewifery. 
See  Pausanias,  x.  29,  2  ;  Plin.  Hist.  Nat.  xxxv.  33  ;   Diod.  Sicul.  i.  97.] 

60.  See  Bottiger,  Die  Aldrobandinische  Hochzeit,  Dresden,  18 10. 

61.  Published  in  chromolithography,  with  comments,  by  Woermann,  Die  Odysee-landscha/ten  vom 
Esquilin. 

62.  By  E.  de  Chanot  in  Gazette  archhlogiqtie,  1875,  PI.  5,  6. 

63.  See  Mon.  delP  Inst.,  vi.  PI.  49-53. 

64.  See  Revue  archeologique,  xxi.  (May  1870).  A  collection  of  photographs  taken  from  drawings  after 
these  pictures  is  sold  under  the  title  Plati  et  peintiires  de  la  maison  paternelle  de  Tibire  Cesar. 

65.  Bull,  deir  Inst.  1876,  pp.  5,  6  sqq. 

66.  [See  F.  Barnabei,  The  Academy,  N.I.  No.  370  (July  26,  1879).] 

67.  Mon.  deir  lust.,  viii.  PI.  21. 

68.  See  Helbig,  W.,  Die  Wandgetndlde  Campanietis,  nebst  einer  Unterstuhung  iiber  deren  Technik  von 
Otto  Donner,  Leipzig,  1868  ;  and  Id.,  Unteisuchungen  iiber  die  campanische  Wandmalerei,  Leipzig,  1873. 
Early  publications  on  the  subject,  including  the  great  illustrated  works,  are  very  numerous ;  the  following 
are  among  the  most  important:  Le antichith  d'' Ercolano,  Naples,  1757-1792,  vols.  i.  ii.  iii.  iv.  vii.  ;  Zahn,  W., 
Die  schonsten  Ornamente  und  merkiuiirdigsten  Gemdlde  aus  Pompeji,  I/erculanum,  und  Stabiae,  Berlin, 
1838-1852  ;  Temite,  IVandgemiilde  aus  Herculanum  und  Pompeji;  Raoul  Rochette,  Choix  de  peintiires 
de Pompei,  Paris,  1844  ^1^- >  Museo  Boi-bonico,  from  vol.  i.,  182410  vol.  xvi.,  1857  ;  Niccolini,  Le  case ed i 
monutnenti  di  Pompeii,  1854  ^.^ij?.;  Gell,  W.,  Pompciana,  London,  1824  and  1832  :  Giornale  degU  Scavi  di 
Pompei,  a  periodical  in  progress  since  1868  ;   Presuhn,  E.,  Pompejanische  Wanddecorationen,  Leipzig,  1877. 

69.  Students  are  principally  indebted  for  these  results  to  the  judicious  researches  of  A.  Mau  ;  see 
Giornale  degli  Scavi,  ii.  pp.  386-395,  439-456,  and  Bull.  delV  Inst.,  1874,  p.  141. 

70.  See  Helbig,  Catalogue,  No.  1385. 

71.  Helbig,  Wandgemdlde,  No.   114;  Museo  Borbonico,  ii.  59. 

72.  This  important  principle  in  the  Pompeian  wall-decorations  has  been  ascertained  and  illustrated  by 
Ad.  Trendelenburg,  in  Arch.  Zcitiing,  1876,  p.  I  sqq.,  79  sqq. 


u 


PART    II. 


PAINTING   IN   THE    EARLY   CHRISTIAN, 
MEDIEVAL,  AND  MODERN  WORLDS. 


BY 


ALFRED    WOLTMANN. 


BOOK    I. 


EARLY   CHRISTIAN    PAINTING. 


CHAPTER    I. 

PAIN.TING    IN    THE    CATACOMBS. 

Attitude  of  the  early  Christians  towards  art — Eai'ly  Christian  art  to  be  best  studied  at  Rome  and  in 
tombs — Origin  of  the  name  catacombs — Purpose  and  history  of  the  catacombs  ;  their  re-discovery — 
Some  more  important  than  others  for  the  histoiy  of  painting — Their  construction — Their  furniture — 
Their  painted  decorations— Introduction  of  Christian  symbohsm — Pictorial  and  unpictorial  symbols — 
Christian  significance  given  to  Pagan  motives — Types  of  Christ — Type  of  the  Virgin — Types  of  the 
Apostles — Costume — Choice  of  subjects  from  the  Old  and  New  Testaments — Ritual  or  sacramental 
pictures — Figures  of  grave-diggers  and  other  personages — Decorative  distribution  and  setting  of  the 
pictures  —  Works  in  S.  Domitilla  ;  S.  Agnes;  S.  Lucina  —  Arrangement  according  to  decorative 
rather  than  according  to  mystical  or  symbolical  correspondence  —  Condition,  merits,  and  style  of 
the  catacomb  paintings — Their  cheerfulness  of  spirit — Drawings  on  gilt  glass — Recapitulation  ;  painting 
in  the  catacombs  as  compared  with  contemporary  Pagan  work — General  decline. 

Early  Christian  art  does  not  differ  in  its  beginnings  from  the  art  of  anti- 
quity. The  technical  means,  the  conception  of  nature,  the  feehng  for  form, 
are  the  same.  The  only  perceptible  differences  are  those  differences  of  subject 
which  betoken  the  fact  that  art  has  now  to  embody  a  changed  order  of  religious 
ideas  ;  and  even  from  this  point  of  view,  the  classical  connection  is  but  gradu- 
ally and  at  first  imperfectly  severed.  Christianity,  however,  occupied  a  different 
position  in  regard  to  art  from  that  which  classical  antiquity  had  occupied. 
The  image-worship  of  the  ancient  religions  was  essentially  opposed  to  the 
spirit  of  the  new  ;  and  it  was  only  through  Pagan  influences  that  such  worship 
by  degrees  found  its  way  into  Christianity.  At  the  outset  Christianity,  as  was 
inevitable  from  its  Jewish  origin,  had  no  need  for  art.  In  many  quarters  the 
aversion  to  works  of  material  imagery  expressed  by  a  father  of  the  church  like 
TertulHan  —  the  antagonism  to  the  idolatries  of  antiquity  —  remained  long 
unabated.  Yet  when  Christianity,  far  outstepping  the  narrow  circle  of  Judaism, 
had  been  taken  up  by  classically  educated  Greeks  and  Romans,  the  prejudice 
against  works  of  art  could  not  continue  to  be  general,  nor  could  Christendom 
escape  the  craving  for  art  wliich  is  common  to  civilised  mankind.  The 
dislike  of  images  used  as  objects  of  worship  did  not  include  mere  chamber 
decorations,  and  while  independent  sculpture  found  no  footing  in  the  Christian 
world,  or  at  least  was  applied  only  to  secular  and  not  to  religious  uses,  painting, 
on  the  other  hand,  found  encouragement  for  purely  decorative  purposes,  in  the 
execution  of  which  a  characteristicall)'  Christian  element  began  to  assert  itself 
by  degrees. 

The    domain    of   Early   Christian    art    extended    over  the   whole    Roman 


152 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


Empire  wherever  Christian  communities  arose,  especially  in  the  large  towns 
where  art-industries  in  general  had  long  been  carried  on,  and  where  the  Chris- 
tian communities  contained  a  greater  number  than  elsewhere  of  members 
belonging  to  the  upper  ranks  of  society,  and  therefore  possessed  of  cultivation 
and  a  love  for  art.  Provincial  and  local  differences  are  at  first  lost  in  the 
uniform  general  character  of  the  work  produced  ;  since  all  over  the  Roman 
Empire  there  reigned  the  same  principles  of  design,  though  the  power  of 
execution  might  be  greater  in  one  place  and  less  -in  another.  First,  of  course, 
stood  Rome  herself,  the  capital  of  the  Empire,  the  inheritor  of  the  culture  of 
three  quarters  of  the  globe.  While  ancient  art  at  Rome  was  still,  though  in 
decadence,  creating  splendid  monuments,  public  buildings  of  immense  extent 
and  magnificence,  sumptuous  memorials  and  statues.  Christian  art  was  already 
stirring,  though  at  first  quietly  beneath  the  ground,  in  those  early  and  humble 
activities  which  in  our  own  day  can  only  be  connectedly  studied  at  Rome. 
Of  this  as  well  as  of  all  foregoing  ages  of  art,  tombs  give  us  the  most  faithful 
and  complete  idea  ;  in  them  has  Iain  hidden  and  preserved  that  which  on  the 
surface  of  the  earth  has  perished. 

The  name  "  catacombs  "  for  the  underground  cemeteries  or  ourial-places 
of  the  ancient  Christians  was,  in  the  first  instance,  merely  local  ;  one  particular 
burial-ground  at  Rome,  that  of  S.  Sebastian,  was  called  Coeineteritmi  ad  cata- 
cumbas,  and  from  this  the  name  later  became  general.^ 

Even  in  times  when  the  religion  of  the  Christians  no  longer  shared  the 
protection  which  Judaism  enjoyed  in  the  Roman  Empire,  but  was  suspected 
and  persecuted,  the  burial-places  of  the  sect  still  profited  by  the  full  legal 
protection  assured  to  tombs  of  all  kinds  by  the  pious  sentiments  of  the  Romans 
towards  the  dead.  Cemeteries,  which  were  the  property  of  private  Christian 
families,  or  of  particular  burial  societies  formed  upon  the  model  of  the  Roman 
funeral  colleges,  could  be  laid  out  without  concealment,  and  within  them  neither 
interments  nor  the  celebration  of  anniversaries  was  prohibited.  Inside  the 
circuit  of  the  ancient  walls  of  Servius  Tullius  burial  was  illegal  ;  the  Christians 
had  therefore  to  establish  their  cemeteries  outside  this  circuit,  and  as  they  did 
not,  according  to  the  prevalent  practice  of  the  Romans,  burn  their  dead,  but 
buried  them  like  the  Jews,  they  took  advantage  of  the  condition  of  the  soil  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Rome,  and  selected  these  underground  places  of  burial  ;  over 
which,  however,  they  erected  chapels  to  which  they  built  handsome  entrances, 
so  that  these  were  in  no  way  withdrawn  from  public  view.  It  was  not  until  an 
edict  of  Valerian  (a.D.  257)  prohibited  religious  meetings  in  these  places,  and 
until  persecution  did  not  always  pause  at  their  thresholds,  that  the  necessity  for 
concealment  arose.  After  the  recognition  of  Christianity  by  Constantine  the 
old  cemeteries  fell  more  and  more  into  disuse,  but  for  centuries  they  still  con- 
tinued to  be  places  of  pilgrimage  and  reverential  regard.  From  the  ninth 
century,   however,  after   the    passion    for   relics  had  occasioned   their   wholesale 


EARLY  CHRISTIAN  PAINTING.  153 

spoliation,  the  catacombs  were  neglected  and  forgotten,  until  at  last,  at  the 
end  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the  re-discovery  of  "  subterranean  Rome  "  began. 
The  researches  of  Bosio  at  that  date,  the  studies  of  Seroux  d'Agincourt  at  the 
end  of  the  last  century — studies  directed  especially  to  the  history  of  painting 
— and  in  our  own  day  the  methodical  investigations  of  De  Rossi,  have  finally 
disclosed  to  us  their  secrets.  These  cemeteries  are  the  only  places  in  which  we 
find  remains  of  Christian  paintings  of  earlier  date  than  the  close  of  the  fourth 
century,  and  it  is  only  the  examples  which  belong  to  this  early  period  which  can 
claim  our  attention  here.  The  additions  made  in  later  ages  may  be  passed 
over,  inasmuch  as  those  ages  can  be  better  judged  by  the  monuments  they  have 
left  above  ground. 

For  the  history  of  painting  the  most  important  Christian  cemeteries  of  the 
first  centuries  are  those  of  Priscilla  on  the  Via  Salaria,  of  Domitilla  or  SS. 
Nereus  and  Achilles  on  the  Via  Ardeatina,  and  of  Pra^textatus  on  the  Via 
Appia.  The  largest  of  all  the  catacombs  is  that  of  S.  Callixtus,  founded  at  the 
end  of  the  second  century,  and  situated  opposite  that  of  Praetextatus.  Near 
these  lie  the  catacombs  of  S.  Sebastian  already  mentioned.  Finally,  the 
cemetery  of  S.  Agnes  at  the  opposite  end  of  the  city,  on  the  Via  Nomentana, 
is  especially  noteworthy.  In  regions  remote  from  Rome  the  catacombs  of 
S.  Januarius  at  Naples  and  those  in  Alexandria  should  be  mentioned.'^ 

The  narrow  and  intricate  passages  of  these  subterranean  cemeteries,  regular 
in  the  earlier  but  narrower  and  more  winding  in  the  later  examples,  are  con- 
ducted one  above  another  at  various  levels,  and  have  their  rows  of  loculi  or 
recesses  for  receiving  the  dead  in  either  wall.  Now  and  again  they  open  out 
into  sepulchral  chambers  of  an  approximately  square  shape  cut  out  of  the  tufa 
{ciibiada),  of  which  two  are  often  placed  opposite  each  other,  or  several  are 
collected  in  close  proximity.     These  furnish  the  occasion  for  painted  decorations. 

In  Christian  graves  we  are  used  to  find  all  kinds  of  household  ware, 
personal  and  toilet  ornaments,  coins,  toys,  and  the  like,  given,  quite  in  the 
spirit  of  antiquity,  to  the  dead  person  to  take  with  him  from  this  life  into  the 
next  ;  and  in  just  the  same  spirit  these  subterranean  chambers  of  sepulture  are 
also  adorned  with  a  system  of  painted  decoration  intended  to  make  them 
resemble  the  apartments  of  an  earthly  house. 

It  is  precisely  in  the  earliest  cemeteries  that  a  purely  decorative  style  of 
painting  is  often  found,  which  is  undistinguishable  from  the  usual  work  of 
antique  house  decorators.  Graceful  vine  branches  with  Cupids  adorn  a  ceiling 
in  the  oldest  part  of  the  Tomb  of  Domitilla,  and  in  the  same  place  remains  of 
landscape  have  been  found  playing  a  part  in  wall-decoration.  In  the  so-called 
Crypta  Quadrata  of  the  cemetery  of  Praetextatus,  which  is  not  quarried  out  of 
the  stone  but  regularly  vaulted,  and  of  great  antiquity,  the  four  compartments 
of  the  ceiling  contain  only  roses,  asters,  grapes,  and  laurel  branches  alive  with 
birds — plants,  that  is,  which  probably  symbolise  the  four  seasons  ;   and    in  the 

X 


Christ    ^^,  the  T  which  was  the  oldest  form  of  the  cross,  the  ship  as   an 


154  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

lower  zones  corresponding  subjects  of  daily  life — flower-gathering,  reapers  at 
their  work,  vintage,  and  olive-gathering.  The  ante-chamber  of  the  first 
catacomb  at  Naples  contains,  with  a  charming  decorative  division  of  the 
ceiling  space,  two  fluttering  doves  with  an  olive  branch  in  the  central  medal- 
lion, and  round  about  this  slender  gazelles,  panthers  in  the  act  of  springing, 
little  sea-horses,  vases  with  roses,  and  birds  balancing  themselves  on  twigs. 
In  the  sequel,  too,  not  only  dolphins,  birds,  and  masks,  remain  as  regular 
elements  of  decoration,  but  even  motives  from  classical  mythology,  as  Tritons 
and  little  winged  genii,  are  introduced  frankly  among  the  leaf  ornaments. 
Along  with  these,  however,  shapes  and  images  of  Christian  signification  begin 
by  degrees  to  make  their  appearance. 

With    the    first    Christian    symbols    as    they   appear    incised,  painted,   or 
raised   in   relief  on  tombstones,  vessels,  and   sarcophagi, — as  the  monogram  of 

emblem  of  the  church,  the  fish,  which,  by  a  play  upon  the  letters  composing 
the  word  t%^u9,  was  intended  to  symbolise  Christ, — with  all  these  a  history  of 
painting  has  naturally  nothing  to  do.  They  constituted  no  more  than  a  kind 
of  picture-writing,  understood  by  the  members  of  the  community,  and  recalling 
to  them  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  their  religion.  But  when  the  dove  is 
turned  into  an  emblem  of  the  Christian  soul,  the  lamb  with  the  banner  of 
victory  into  a  symbol  of  Christ,  when  a  flock  of  lambs  is  taken  to  represent 
the  Apostles  or  a  Christian  community,  the  peacock  immortality,  the  hart  at 
the  water-brooks  the  longing  of  the  Christian  for  holiness,  then  the  decorative 
and  artistic  point  of  view  is  involved  as  well  as  the  religious.  The  ancient 
love  of  depicting  animal  life  survives  in  these  symbolic  representations  ;  for 
indeed  such  pictures  of  animals  were  customary  in  classical  precedent  before  it 
pleased  the  Christian  mind  to  discern  in  them  symbols  of  special  significance. 

Besides  these  we  soon  find  other  symbols  of  religion  which  have  assumed 
true  pictorial  form,  and  are  designed  with  a  true  painter's  motive.  At  first 
these  are  taken  over  direct  from  classical  antiquity ;  particularly  the  two 
ever-recurring  incidents  of  Orpheus  and  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  which  appear 
as  emblematical  representations  of  Christ.  Orpheus,  in  antique  garb  and 
wearing  the  Phrygian  cap,  sits  on  a  rock  and  strikes  his  lute  while  tame  or 
wild  animals,  especially  lions,  lie  submissive  at  his  feet,  and  thus  stands  as 
a  symbol  of  the  controlling  power  of  the  Christian  doctrine  (Fig.  43).^  The 
subject  of  the  shepherd  carrying  the  lamb  on  his  shoulders  is  painted  with  an 
allusion  to  Christ's  parable  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  but  has  its  immediate  pre- 
cedent in  the  antique  ;  namely,  in  those  figures  of  every-day  shepherds  which 
we  find  both  in  Pompeian  mural  paintings  and  elsewhere,  and  in  the  statues 
of  Hermes  Kriophoros^  i.e.  Hermes  carrying  a  ram  on  his  shoulders  as  the 
protecting  god  of  flocks  and  herds.      One  of  the  supposed  Christian  statues  in 


EARLY  CHRISTIAN  PAINTING. 


155 


the  Lateran  is  really  an  original  Hermes  of  this  kind.  But  in  this  instance 
only  the  formal  part  of  the  antique  conception  is  respected,  and  no  mythological 
connection  is  kept  up  between  the  Christian  subject  and  its  prototype.  The 
shepherd  appears  in  such  Christian   pictures  as  a  youth  of  pleasant  aspect  in 


FifT.  40. 

country  dress,  generally  with  the  attribute  of  the  syrinx  or  shepherd's  pipe, 
and  at  his  feet  the  crook,  besides  milk-jars,  and  sometimes  also  lambs  (Fig.  40). 
The  constant  repetition  of  such  subjects  was  no  doubt  due  to  their  agreeable 
character  and  peculiar  fitness  for  decorative  purposes.  Again,  just  as  banqueting 
scenes  appear  in  antique  tombs  and  on  sarcophagi,  so  also  we  find  like  subjects 
depicted  on  the  walls  of  Christian   sepulchral  chambers,  with  a  symbolic  refer- 


156  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

ence  to  the  happiness  of  the  heavenly  love-feast.  A  subject  taken  straight  from 
real  life  is  that  of  the  fisher,  with  an  allusion  to  Christ's  similitude  of  the 
Apostles  as  fishers  of  men. 

But  besides  these  we  find  figures  which  belong  exclusively  to  Christianity, 
and  especially  the  figure  of  its  Founder,  which  is  brought  before  us  not  only 
in  symbolic  but  in  actual  lineaments.  However  much  some  of  the  early 
Fathers  might  hold  to  the  opinion  that  Christ  had  walked  the  earth  as  a  servant, 
w'ithout  form  or  comeliness,  art  was  still  too  much  imbued  with  the  classical 
spirit  of  beauty  to  be  at  home  in  the  treatment  of  such  a  conception.  As  no 
historical  portrait  of  Christ  was  known,  so  artists  did  not  endeavour  to  construct 
one,  but  set  themselves  to  realise  his  divine  nature,  and  accordingly  created  an 
ideal  of  a  beardless,  youthful  Saviour,  which  approaches  closely  to  the  kindred 
types  of  the  classical  gods  and  heroes.  In  this  likeness,  and  with  short  hair, 
Christ  appears  at  the  raising  of  Lazarus  and  other  miracles.  A  rather  different 
type,  which  is  afterwards  handed  down  through  the  art  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
appears  on  the  gilt  glasses  found  in  the  catacombs  (of  which  we  shall  speak  by 
and  by),  though  not  on  their  mural  paintings  ;  in  this  Christ  appears  in  like 
manner  youthful  and  bearded,  but  with  long  hair,  which  flows  over  the  shoulders 
behind,  and  is  cut  in  front  in  a  smooth,  straight  line  across  the  forehead.  The 
bearded  type  becomes  common  in  later  times,  but  this  we  shall  be  able  to 
study  above  ground,  in  the  earliest  mosaics,  better  and  in  a  more  original 
shape  than  in  the  catacombs. 

Mary  appears  in  the  catacomb  pictures  as  a  Roman  matron,  generally  praying 
with  uplifted  hands  {Oralis,  Adorante).  A  similar  figure  with  lambs  at  her  feet,  so 
as  to  form  a  kind  of  counterpart  to  the  Good  Shepherd,  may  however  be  equally 
well  taken  for  a  personification  of  the  Church.  Mary  is  also  represented  later  as 
sitting  with  the  Child  in  her  lap,  but  even  then  she  sometimes  has  her  hands  raised 
in  prayer,  without  holding  the  Child,  as  in  a  picture  in  the  cemetery  of  S.  Agnes. 

The  Apostles,  especially  Peter  and  Paul,  appear  as  ancient  philosophers, 
without  special  attributes  ;  but  for  these  two  are  soon  developed  types  which 
present  a  certain  contrast  to  each  other.  Ecclesiastical  writers  on  art  have  from 
this  fact  conjectured  the  existence  of  a  tradition  as  to  their  personal  appearance 
founded  upon  real  portraits.  An  examination  of  the  monuments  shows  us,  on 
the  contrary,  whence  the  types  in  truth  originate.  The  famous  bronze  statue 
of  S.  Peter,  in  his  great  church  at  Rome,  the  object  of  such  veneration  that  in 
the  course  of  centuries  the  foot  has  been  worn  away  by  the  kisses  of  the  faith- 
ful, is  in  fact  an  antique  statue  of  a  consul,  which  has  been  transformed  into  a 
Peter  ;  it  has  curling  hair  and  a  thick,  closely-cut  beard,  characteristics  which 
have  accordingly  been  retained  ever  since  in  figures  of  Peter,  while  to  Paul, 
simply  for  the  sake  of  contrast,  has  been  assigned  smooth  hair  and  a  long 
beard.  The  prophets  were  in  like  manner  depicted  after  the  type  of  ancient 
philosophers,  with  scrolls  of  writing. 


EARLY  CHRISTIAN  PAINTING.  157 

The  dress  of  the  sacred  personages  in  these  paintings  is  the  Roman  tunic 
with  the  palHum  thrown  over  it,  and  sandals  on  the  naked  feet.  The  simpler 
philosopher's  habit  consisting  of  the  pallium  only,  which  leaves  the  upper  part  of 
the  body  bare  on  one  side,  appears  only  occasionally  in  early  pictures.  The 
nimbus  or  glory  round  the  head,  for  which  also  there  exists  antique  precedent, 
as  it  had  been  in  use  for  divinities  since  Alexander,  and  afterwards  for  human 
potentates,*  appears  round  the  head  of  Christ  for  the  first  time  in  the  fourth 
century,  and  later  round  those  of  Saints  also  ;  after  which  a  cross  comes  to  be 
generally  drawn  for  distinction  upon  the  nimbus  of  the  Saviour. 

The  choice  of  scenes  from  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  in  which  the  figures 
of  Christian  tradition  appear,  is  as  yet  but  limited.  The  properly  pictorial  motives 
in  Scripture  are  not  yet  discovered.  Painting  is  not  yet  epic,  but  only  symbolic ;  it 
does  not  seek  to  set  forth  actions  or  events,  but  only  to  draw  the  Christian  mind  to 
the  contemplation  of  certain  doctrinal  conceptions,  certain  fundamental  religious 
ideas,  and  especially  to  the  virtues  of  the  sacraments.  The  Passion  of  Christ, 
which  in  later  times  becomes  the  dominant  theme  of  Christian  art,  is  not  repre- 
sented here,  and  it  is  particularly  to  be  remarked  that  no  picture  of  the  Cruci- 
fixion appears  before  the  seventh  century.  The  shrinking  of  Early  Christian 
art  from  subjects  of  martyrdom  is  an  after-note  of  classical  feeling,  to  which  it 
was  repugnant  to  exhibit  a  deity  in  the  moment  of  humiliation  and  of  capital 
punishment  in  its  most  shameful  form.  Christ  is  depicted  in  his  supernatural 
power,  in  his  ministry  on  earth,  and  especially  in  the  performance  of  his  miracles. 
So  the  man  sick  of  the  palsy,  who  takes  up  his  bed  and  walks,  bears  testimony  to 
the  purifying  power  of  baptism  ;  the  raising  of  Lazarus,  to  redemption  and  the 
victory  over  death  ;  the  multiplication  of  loaves,  or  the  miracle  at  the  marriage 
of  Cana,  to  the  sacrament  of  the  Eucharist.  Subjects  from  the  Old  Testa- 
ment also  arc  chosen  with  symbolic  reference  to  the  Christian  doctrines.  The 
fall  of  Adam  and  Eve  testifies  to  the  sinfulness  of  man.  The  story  of  Noah  is 
not  exhibited  in  regular  pictures,  but  he  is  represented  standing  half  out  of  an 
ark  (which  is  only  conventionally  indicated  by  a  small  chest  open  at  the  top), 
and  holding  in  his  hands  an  olive  branch  and  dove  symbolical  of  the  divine  peace 
insured  by  baptism.  The  same  sacrament  is  typified  by  Moses  striking  water 
from  the  rock  (Fig.  41),  or  again  by  Peter  in  the  same  position  as  leader  of  t^he 
new  Israel.  Moses  loosing  his  .shoes  from  off  his  feet  before  the  bush  seems  to 
shadow  forth  the  holy  fear  in.spired  by  the  Christian  mysteries.  The  prophet 
Jonah,  cast  forth  by  a  dragon-like  fish,  is  the  oft-recurring  type  of  the  Resurrec- 
tion of  Christ.  Jonah  is  also  often  shown  resting  under  the  gourd  and  waiting 
in  vain  for  the  destruction  of  Nineveh,  probably  as  a  warning  .symbol  to  those 
who  murmur  against  the  dispensations  of  God.  The  events  from  the  stor)' 
of  Jonah  arc  sometimes  dejMCted  in  a  connected  cycle.  Abraham  in  the 
act  of  offering  up  Lsaac  typifies  the  death  of  Christ.  David  as  conqueror 
is  also  a  type  of  Christ.      Daniel  naked  in   the  lion's  den,  anel  the  three  young 


^s 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


men   in   the   fiery  furnace,  are  symbols  of  trust  in   the   divine   help  in   time  of 
need. 

Christianity  has  also  a  class  of  ritual  or  devotional  pictures  of  its  own  no 
less  than  Pagan  antiquity.  The  efficacy  of  the  sacraments  is  extolled  not  only 
by   means    of   Scripture  stories,    but   by   illustrations   of    the   liturgical   actions 


Fig.  41. 


themselves  ;   for  instance,  the  imposition  of  hands   by  the  priest,  or  the  conse- 
cration of  the  bread,  with  the  emblematic  fish  lying  beside  it  on  the  table. 

The  every-day  personage  of  the  grave-digger,  fossor,  occasionally  occurs  ; 
sometimes  in  a  modestly  subordinate  character  ;  sometimes  standing  above  his 
own  grave  with  lamp  and  pick-axe  in  his  hand,  like  the  grave-digger  Diogenes 
of  our  illustration  (Fig.  42).  For  the  rest,  it  had  been,  as  we  know,  the  custom 
of  antiquity  to  indicate  the  rank  and  position  of  the  deceased  on  his  tomb,  and 
by  pictures  of  implements  the  craft  which  he  plied.  Finally,  although  the 
sufferings   of  martyrs  were  not  represented,  we  seem  to  recognise,  in  a  picture 


EARLY  CHRISTIAN  PAINTING. 


159 


in  the  catacombs  of  S.  CalHxtus,  a  member  of  the  Christian  confession  before 
the  tribunal. 

In  the  division  of  the  space  to  be  decorated,  the  extravagantly  fanciful 
kind  of  pseudo-architectural  device  which  we  found  in  the  Pompeian  wall- 
paintings  has  no  place  in  the  Catacombs.  The  pictures  are  enclosed  and  the 
space  laid  out  in  compartments  and  with  borders  of  the  simplest  design,  as 
stripes  or  astragalus  or  leaf-patterns.      But  the  general  aspect  of  an  ordinary 


iiniiuniiuuiiiiiiiniMiiiminniiniiiiimiiinniMiiiMiiiiuuimiuniiiiiiiiiimmimmiuiiBiiiimaiiiiumiiin^^^^ 


Fig.  42. 


chamber  is  kept  up  in  the  decoration  of  these  Christian  just  as  much  as  in  that 
of  the  earlier  Pagan  tombs.  The  mrosolia,  or  niched  recesses  vaulted  with  a 
semicircular  arch,  in  which  the  sarcophagi  are  ranged  on  either  wall,  the  ceilings, 
the  wall-surfaces  themselves  when  they  are  not  too  much  broken  up  by  openings 
made  to  receive  the  dead,  combine  to  form  a  properly  related  whole;  and  the 
ceiling  in  especial  affords  opportunity  for  a  complete  harmonious  design.  Such 
designs  are  composed  about  a  centre,  with  a  strictly  architectural  division  of 
the  parts.  Thus,  on  a  ceiling  in  the  cemetery  of  Domitilla  (Fig.  43),  Orpheus 
appears  in  an  octagonal  central  panel,  and  the  eight  compartments  which  sur- 
round this  octagon,  and  of  which  the  outer  margins  form  so  many  sections 
of  a  circle,  contain  the  following  subjects:  —  David  with  the  sling,  Moses 
striking  the  rock,  Daniel    in  the  lion's   den,  the   raising   of  Lazarus,  and  alter- 


i6o 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


nately  with  these  Scripture  scenes  are  four  compartments  with  figures  of 
animals,  namely  oxen  and  rams.  The  ceiling  from  the  cemetery  of  S.  Agnes, 
the  central  picture  of  which  is  the  Good  Shepherd  of  our  previous  illustration 
(Fig.  40),  contains,  in  four  rectangular  compartments  surrounding  an  Orans, 
or  Virgin  in  prayer,  the  Fall  of  Man,  Moses  striking  the  rock,  and  Jonah  sleep- 
ing under  the  gourd  ;  in  the  angles  there  are,  in  separate  compartments,  birds 
perching  on  branches,  tall  vases  rise  next  to  these,  and  light  leaf  ornaments 
as  well   as  doves  symmetrically  balancing  each   other  form  a  circle  round   the 


Fig.  43. 

centre-piece.  The  antechamber  of  the  second  catacomb  at  Naples  shows  in 
the  centre  an  octagon,  with  a  hovering  Victory  holding  a  palm-branch.  The 
skilfully  divided  outer  compartments  contain  winged  genii  with  banderoles, 
female  figures  winged  and  hovering,  masks,  vases  of  flowers,  vines,  griffins, 
lions,  gazelles,  sea-horses,  and  in  three  larger  pictures,  the  Fall  of  Man,  then  (as 
it  seems)  the  Sower  of  the  parable,  and  finally  a  representation,  as  yet  unex- 
plained, of  three  damsels  building  a  tower.  The  second-century  ceiling  of 
S.  Lucina,  reproduced  by  De  Rossi  (Fig.  44),  contained  in  the  centre  a  picture, 
now  almost  destroyed,  representing  probably  the  Good  Shepherd,  and  sur- 
rounded alternately  with  two  other  pictures  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  and  two  of 
the  Virgin  in  prayer;  but  besides  these,  within  exquisitely  designed  compart- 


EARLY  CHRISTIAN  PAINTING. 


i6i 


ments,  we  see  branches  with  leaves  and  flowers,  birds,  masks,  and  floating  genii, 
such  as  appear  on  the  walls  of  Pompeii.  The  element  of  Christian  doctrine 
insinuates  itself  here  but  very  discreetly,  and  indeed  in  a  manner  hardly  per- 
ceptible to  the  uninitiated. 

Hitherto  it  has  been  generally  thought  that  in  the  selection  and  composition 
of  separate  scenes  the  symbolical  principle  was  uppermost,  and  that  each  cycle 


Fig.  44. 


of  pictures  formed  a  kind  of  religious  puzzle,  or  sermon  skilfully  composed  in  the 
characters  of  art.  But  a  comparison  of  these  with  other  antique  wall-paintings 
goes  far  to  qualify  this  supposition,  and  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  here  also  the 
purely  decorative  purpose  counted  for  a  good  deal.  Recent  studies  have  estab- 
lished the  existence  in  ancient  wall-paintings  of  a  principle  of  formal  symmetry 
according  to  which  subjects  are  often  placed  together  without  reference  to  any 
inward  correspondence  of  meaning  between  them,  but  simply  because  by  their 
external    correspondence  they  serve  to  balance   each  other   in  the  composition 


1 62  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

(see  above,  p.  138).  This  principle  we  find  still  at  work  in  the  catacombs.  The 
commentators  have  hitherto  searched  for  some  mystic  inner  connection  between 
the  Raising  of  Lazarus  and  Moses  striking  the  rock.  The  reader,  however,  has 
only  to  look  at  the  illustration  (Fig.  43)  to  perceive  how  the  correspondence  of 
the  two  motives — in  each  case  a  draped  figure  with  the  right  arm  similarly 
raised  in  the  act  of  miracle — was  of  itself  enough  to  determine  the  choice  of 
the  irrelative  positions.  There  is  just  the  same  sort  of  correspondence  be- 
tween the  nude  figure  of  Daniel  and  the  heroic  youthful  David.  Neither  is  it 
necessary  to  look  for  any  symbolic  intention  in  the  animal  subjects  of  this  same 
ceiling  ;  it  may  rather  be  taken  for  granted  that  the  bull  and  the  ram,  which 
appear  each  of  them  once  standing  and  once  reposing,  form  simply  part  of  a 
scheme  of  landscape  and  figure  decoration  without  ulterior  meaning.  Again, 
with  regard  to  the  correspondence  of  the  subjects  of  Jonah  and  the  Fall,  on  the 
second  ceiling  which  we  have  described,  there  is  at  least  the  coincidence  that 
both  involve  the  representations  of  naked  figures  under  a  tree.  When  we  find 
Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abednego  in  the  furnace  continually  balanced  with  the 
Adoration  of  the  Magi,  we  must  seek  the  reason  in  the  fact  that  in  each  case 
the  personages  are  three  in  number  and  wear  the  same  kind  of  Asiatic  costume 
— Phrygian  caps,  short  tunics,  and  trousers.  It  is  true  that  the  object  of  spiritual 
teaching  was  not  forgotten,  but  within  this  general  scope  the  decorative  artist  was 
allowed  greater  freedom  at  this  early  period  of  Christian  art  than  afterwards. 

The  paintings  of  the  catacombs  have  suffered  sorely.  Many  have  been 
destroyed  in  the  attempt  to  remove  them  ;  what  remains  is  perishing  more  and 
more,  and  can  be  seen  in  no  sufficient  light.  Such  as  they  are,  however,  these 
paintings  possess  a  significance  and  a  charm  which  it  is  impossible  not  to  feel. 
The  men  who  worked  in  the  catacombs  were  not  artists  ;  they  were  simple 
handicraftsman,  but  the  artistic  tradition  of  antiquity  still  lingered  in  their 
practice.  The  same  men  would  probably  have  used  more  care  and  finish  in 
work  done  above  ground.  In  these  sepulchral  chambers,  lighted  but  dimly 
by  occasional  shafts  or  lamps,  they  did  not  employ  the  finished  Greco-Roman 
method  of  painting  on  a  carefully  laid  preparation,  but  contented  themselves 
with  a  rapid  mode  of  execution  on  a  dry  ground  {al  seccd).  They  never  thought 
of  making  special  studies  for  the  task  at  any  given  time  before  them,  or  of 
going  back  to  nature,  but  worked  quickly  with  an  assured  routine,  a  broad  and 
bold  conduct  of  the  outlines,  and  a  vague  handling  which  did  not  pause  over 
details.  But  in  this  decorative  style  they  still  wrought  with  some  of  the  old 
skill.  They  still  possessed  some  of  the  true  antique  feeling  for  the  human  form  ; 
their  proportions  are  generally  good,  and  even  their  treatment  of  the  nude  is 
often  competent  enough,  witness  many  of  their  figures  of  Daniel  ;  Moses  put- 
ting off  his  shoes  beside  the  burning  bush  often  bears  a  lingering  resemblance 
to  the  ancient  statues  of  Hermes  fastening  his  sandal  ;  even  Jonah  as  he  lies  or 
crouches   naked  under  his  gourd  is  often  a  figure,  however  imperfectly  carried 


EARLY  CHRISTIAN  PAINTING.  163 

through,  yet  quite  naturally  and  flowingly  designed.  Many  figures  oi  Adoranti 
retain  a  classic  charm  in  their  carriage,  gesture,  and  inclination  of  the  head.  In 
spite  of  conventionalised  detail,  not  a  {q\n  draped  figures,  like  the  Moses  of 
Fig.  41,  are  marked  by  a  real  nobility  of  style.  Simple  situations,  for  which 
the  artists  often  recur  to  ancient  models,  are  constantly  repeated,  and  exhibit 
attitudes  and  movements  of  agreeable  liveliness  and  artistic  freedom.  With  a 
happy  linear  arrangement,  and  much  skill  in  adapting  the  composition  to  the 
space  to  be  filled,  we  find  in  the  earlier  period  comparatively  few  serious  faults 
in  foreshortening,  perspective,  and  the  like.  The  elements  of  the  composition, 
it  is  true,  are  extremely  restricted,  and  all  the  harder  problems  of  the  art, 
all  complication  of  background  and  representation  of  retreating  planes,  are 
avoided.  A  traditional  feeling  for  light  and  shade  enables  the  workman  to 
model  his  figure  sufficiently  if  not  powerfully  ;  his  animal  forms  are  still  fairly 
well  understood  ;  the  trees,  which,  together  with  the  ground  on  which  the 
figures  stand,  are  introduced  to  indicate  an  open-air  scene  of  action,  are  treated 
in  a  somewhat  generic  but  still  natural  manner.  The  execution  is  proportioned 
to  the  conditions  of  the  task,  and  it  is  only  later  that  rudeness  of  handling  and 
uncouthness  of  form  prevail.  The  colouring  is  clear  and  harmonious  upon  a 
uniform  light  ground. 

The  chief,  the  essential  charm  of  the  decorations  of  these  sepulchral 
chambers,  consists  in  their  blithe  serenity  ;  they  are  as  cheerful  as  if  they  had 
been  designed  for  living  households.  Death  is  thought  of  here  with  no  admix- 
ture of  terror,  no  touch  of  gloom  or  self-abasement  ;  and  this  is  specifically  a 
note  not  of  the  Christian  but  of  the  classic  genius.  If  there  is  allusion  to  the 
mysteries  of  redemption,  it  is  an  allusion  that  comes  gently  upon  the  spirit  in 
comforting  and  poetic  symbols. 

Besides  the  art  of  mural  painting,  there  is  another  variety  of  graphic  art  which 
it  is  proper  in  this  place  to  mention  briefly.  Among  the  most  valuable  objects 
found  in  the  catacombs  are  those  of  gilt  glass  {pondi  d'oro),  usually  bottoms 
of  goblets,  dating  from  the  third  or  fourth  century.  These  are  figured  with 
subjects  of  the  simplest  kind — heads  or  single  .figures  of  Apostles,  Peter  and 
Paul  as  a  pair.  Scriptural  scenes  like  those  of  the  wall-paintings,  figures  of 
deceased  persons,  above  whom  the  Saviour  holds  the  crown  of  Life,  and  also 
profane  subjects  such  as  hunting  scenes  or  a  victor  on  his  chariot.''  Glass 
paintings  properly  so  called  these  are  not,  but  drawings  scratched  with  a  point 
on  a  leaf  of  thin  gold  laid  upon  a  round  of  glass,  and  then  covered  with  another 
round  which  is  fused  by  heat  into  a  single  substance  with  the  first. 

To  sum  up  our  observations  on  the  paintings  of  the  catacombs  :  they 
contain  no  trace  of  any  artistic  tendency  that  can  be  called  specifically  or 
distinctively  Christian.  We  cannot  even  assent  to  the  opinion  that  in  these 
works  it  is  possible  to  discern  a  superiority  of  Christian  over  contemporary 
Pagan   art,  a  superiority  resting  on  the  difference  between  the    Christian   and 


i64  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

Pagan  conceptions  of  the  universe  ;  still  less  that  in  the  Christian  representations 
the  pictorial  element  and  the  perspective  element  play  a  greater  part  than  in 
the  others.^  Our  conclusion  rather  remains  that  only  in  the  nature  of  the 
subjects  with  which  the  painter  had  to  deal  does  a  new  element,  a  specifically 
Christian  element,  enter  in  ;  while  into  his  practical  mode  of  embodying  them 
there  enters  no  such  element,  and  with  all  its  imperfections  the  style  of  these 
early  Christian  paintings  does  not  break  through  or  depart  from  the  circle  of 
classic  art. 

But  the  earliest  of  these  paintings  are  the  best,  and  they  deteriorate  with  the 
general  deterioration  of  classic  culture.  Early  Christian  painting,  like  the 
contemporary  art  of  the  Empire  in  general,  is  the  art  of  a  decadence,  and  it  shares 
the  general  history  of  that  decadence.  For  this  the  presence  of  Christianity 
is  not  responsible  ;  the  break-up  of  the  old  world  was  rather  a  break-up  from 
within.  The  inheritance  of  Greek  culture  was  an  external  possession  ;  upon 
its  inward  secret  the  Roman  world  had  lost  its  hold.  The  tradition  of  art  was 
handed  on  more  and  more  superficially  ;  each  generation  loosened  more  and 
more  its  hold  upon  antiquity's  true  grasp  of  nature,  which  was  no  longer  kept 
up  by  the  habit  of  study  at  first  hand  in  contact  with  the  sources  of  reality. 
The  trick  of  reproducing  forms  from  mere  memory  is  followed  by  indifference 
to  structural  truth,  next  perishes  the  knowledge  of  the  forms  themselves,  next 
goes  soundness  of  workmanship  and  the  dexterous  practice  of  the  hand.  The 
neglect  of  nature  was  indeed  a  habit  which  Christianity,  though  it  did  not 
introduce,  encouraged,  because  it  was  of  the  essence  of  Christianity  to  lay  more 
stress  upon  the  meaning  of  the  symbol  than  upon  its  form.  We  are  now  approach- 
ing the  point  when  all  the  conquests  made  by  Greece  in  the  kingdom  of  painting, 
its  style  and  its  conditions,  through  centuries  of  development,  had  been  thrown 
away  little  by  little,  and  when  a  posterity  which  knew  not  of  those  conquests 
had  brought  back  the  art  to  its  infancy. 


CHAPTER  II. 

MOSAICS. 

Rome  before  a.d.  550 — Practice  of  mosaic  derived  by  Early  Christian  from  Pagan  art ;  examples  in  the 
catacombs — Mosaic  applied  to  the  interior  decoration  of  churches — Mosaic  designed  and  executed  by 
different  hands — Purely  ornamental  character  of  Christian  mosaic  till  after  the  time  of  Constantine — 
Introduction  of  doctrinal  representations  ;  S.  Nilus  —Fine  example  in  the  Church  of  S.  Pudentiana— 
Type  of  Christ  in  mosaic  pictures — Temporary  revival  of  art  under  Constantine  and  his  successors — 
Mosaics  at  S.  Sabina — Decline  of  the  classic  spirit  in  Christian  art — Mosaics  in  Sa>tta  Maria  Mas^giore — 
In  the  basilica  of  S.  Paul — Calamities  of  the  fifth  century ;  temporary  return  of  prosperity  under 
the  Ostrogothic  rule — Mosaics  of  SS.  Cosmas  and  Damian — Influence  of  antique  sculpture — Symmetry 
of  design  ;  approach  of  formalism — Other  examples  of  mosaic  in  Milan  and  Naples,  and  especially  at 
Ravenna — Rome  the  true  centre  of  the  art ;  but  the  Ravenna  mosaics  the  more  connected  and  the 
better  preserved — Saji  Gicrvanni  in  fonte — SS.  Nazarus  and  Celsus — No  sign  of  Arian  heresy  in 
mosaics  of  Arian  baptistery  (Santa  Alaria  in  Cosmedin) — San  Apollinare  Nnovo  ;  mosaics  both  of  the 
Arian  and  the  orthodox  period — S.  Vitalis  ;  portrait  groups  ;  Bible  pictures — A  falling  off  from  earlier 
work — Influences  of  barbarism  and  monachism — Growing  monotony  and  rigidity — Nothing  specifically 
Byzantine  in  the  work  of  this  age  in  Italy — Byzantium  ;  influences  of  the  court  and  of  classical 
models — S.  George  of  Thessalonica — Monastery  of  Mount  Sinai — Lost  mosaics  of  secular  and  histori- 
cal subjects — Mosaics  of  purely  ornamental  design  ;  their  increasing  frequency  after  the  iconoclastic 
schism — Italy  after  Justinian — Mosaics  of  San  Apollinare  in  Classe  at  Ravenna — Mosaics  of  this 
period  at  Rome — Sa7i  Lorenzo  fuor  le  mura — S.  Theodore — S.  Agnes — Oratory  of  S.  Venantius. 

Rome  before  a.d.  550. — Ancient  Christian  art  possessed  no  perfection  which 
was  not  handed  down  to  it  from  classical  antiquity,  and  from  antiquity  also 
it  derived  the  technical  knowledge  of  mosaic'  Though  most  of  the  ancient 
mosaics  that  exist  were  pavements  or  floor  decorations,  still  this  art  had  been 
occasionally  employed  for  wall  decorations  as  well,  even  in  Pagan  antiquity  ; 
and  its  employment  in  this  manner  became  far  more  frequent  in  Early  Chris- 
tian art,  which  could  not  shake  off  the  increased  tone  of  material  splendour 
characteristic  of  the  decline  of  the  Roman  period.  Even  in  the  catacombs  a 
number  of  ornamental  pavements  in  a  purely  classic  style  have  been  found, 
and  besides  these,  isolated  instances  of  real  mosaic  pictures,  such  as  the  medal- 
lions with  the  portrait  busts  of  Flavins  Julius  Julianus  and  his  wife  Maria 
Simplicia  from  the  cemetery  of  S.  Cyriacus.  These  bear  the  true  character 
of  Roman  fourth-century  portraiture  ;  they  arc  now  in  the  Chigi  Library. 

At  this  time  the  art  of  mosaic  was  developed  for  use  above  ground  also,  and 
obtained  a  new  importance  as  an  architectural  decoration.  The  ancient  temple 
with  its  outer  steps  and  colonnades  had  given  open  welcome  to  the  approach  of 
men.      Not  so  the   new  Christian  house  of  God.  which  stands  closc-wallcd  and 


1 66  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

silent,  and  only  when  you  are  within  begins  to  reveal  pomp  and  splendour. 
The  upper  walls  of  its  nave  are  carried  upon  marble  columns,  taken  in  many 
instances  from  antique  monuments  ;  all  spans  not  vaulted  are  covered  with  a 
coffered  roofing  enriched  with  bronze  and  gilding  ;  the  floor  and  wainscoting 
are  inlaid  with  marble  mosaic  in  large  patterns  symmetrically  worked  out  [opus 
tesselatiuH  and  opus  sectile),  while  the  upper  wall-surfaces  are  decorated  with 
figure  designs  executed  in  another  method  of  mosaic,  by  laying  together  minute 
cubes  of  stone  or  glass.  This  completes  the  rich  effect  of  the  interior.  In  the 
circular  form  of  church,  these  mosaic  decorations  cover  alike  the  central  dome 
and  the  vaultings  of  the  surrounding  gallery  and  of  the  niches.  In  the  basilica 
form,  they  spread  over  the  inner  side  of  the  entrance  wall  ;  they  range  down 
the  long  parallels  of  the  side  walls  above  the  nave  arcades,  between  and  above 
the  windows  ;  they  climb,  if  the  basilica  has  a  transept,  above  the  transept 
arch  ;  they  gleam  upon  the  arch  of  the  tribune,  and  lastly  find  their  goal  and 
termination  in  the  semi-dome  of  the  apse.  The  same  kind  of  decoration  some- 
times occurs  on  the  external  face  of  the  building  also. 

Mosaic,  though  it  may  constitute  a  monumental  and  almost  unalterable 
form  of  decoration,  is  of  course  no  art  directly  practised  by  the  hand  of  the 
creative  artist,  but  only  a  laborious  industry  which,  by  fitting  together  in- 
numerable minute  blocks,  produces  a  copy  of  an  artist's  original  design  or 
coloured  cartoon.  Still  the  quality  of  the  work  is  less  slight  and  common 
here  than  in  the  paintings  of  the  catacombs.  The  mosaic  workers  may 
proceed  mechanically,  but  not  so  flimsily  and  carelessly  as  the  decorative 
painters  ;  the  choice  and  arrangement  of  the  pattern  is  not  left  to  them  ;  they 
work  rather  under  strict  artistic  control,  and  from  models  which  represent  the 
best  skill  of  their  time. 

At  first  there  prevails  a  purely  ornamental  character  in  the  style  of  the 
classic  wall-paintings,  as  we  may  see  in  the  Roman  monuments  of  the  time 
of  Constantine  or  his  immediate  successors.  In  the  Baptistery  of  the  Lateran, 
an  apse  of  the  former  entrance-hall  shows  golden  tendrils  beautifully  designed, 
and  amidst  them  doves  and  other  Christian  symbols  on  a  dark  blue  ground.^ 
In  the  Baptistery  outside  the  Porta  Pia,  which  afterwards  became  the  memorial 
chapel  of  Constantia  the  daughter  of  Constantine  {d.  a.d.  354),  the  vaulted 
roof  of  the  gallery  is  decorated  to  imitate  a  pleasant  vine-arbour  at  vintage- 
time,  with  little  winged  genii  sporting  about,  loading  wains  or  pressing 
fruit  ;  there  are  also  birds,  busts,  a  figure  of  Psyche,  and  side  by  side  with  all 
these  appear  such  unmistakable  Christian  symbols  as  the  lamb  with  the  milk- 
jars  and  the  cross.  The  mosaic  in  the  dome  too,  which  has  long  ago  per- 
ished, was  decoratively  divided  by  Caryatids,  which  formed  in  a  manner  the 
ribs  of  the  dome,  and  from  which  classical  ornaments  ascended  ;  between  these 
were  Scriptural  or  symbolical  representations,  and  as  a  lower  border,  a  strip  of 
sea  with  fish,  water-fowl,  and  genii  sailing  in  boats  and  throwing  nets.^ 


EARLY  CHRISTIAN   PAINTING.  167 

This  decorative  style,  with  its  playful  symbolism,  did  not  in  the  long  run 
suit  the  seriousness  of  the  Christian  spirit.  When  S.  Nilus  (a.D.  450)  was  con- 
sulted about  the  decoration  of  a  church,  he  rejected  as  childish  and  unworth}- 
the  intended  design  of  plants,  birds,  animals,  and  a  number  of  crosses,  and 
desired  the  interior  to  be  adorned  with  j)ictm-es  from  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ment, with  the  same  moti\e  that  Gregory  II.  expressed  afterwards  in  the  follow- 
ing words  : — "  Painting  is  employed  in  churches  for  this  reason,  that  those  who 
are  ignorant  of  the  Scriptures  may  at  least  see  on  the  walls  what  they  arc  un- 
able to  read  in  books."^*^  From  this  time  accordingly  church  pictures  become 
no  longer  purely  decorative  ;  they  serve  for  edification,  for  instruction,  for  devo- 
tion. With  this  object  Christian  art  makes  the  great  step  from  mere  symbolic 
suggestion  to  real  representation. 

Pictures  of  this  kind  appear  in  the  Roman  basilicas  from  the  end  of  the 
fourth  century,  which  is  the  earliest  date  that  can  be  assigned  to  the  most 
beautiful  of  all  the  mosaics  in  Rome,  that  namely,  in  the  apse  of  S.  Puden- 
tiana,  on  the  Esquiline.  In  other  such  cases  a  verbose  inscription  in  verse 
usually  names  the  donor,  and  makes  certain  of  the  date  ;  this  is  wanting  here, 
but  we  know  that  a  restoration  of  the  church  was  effected  under  Pope  Siricius 
{d.  A.D.  398),  In  the  centre  of  the  mosaic  a  bearded  Christ  .sits  enthroned,  his 
right  hand  lifted  in  the  act  of  teaching,  an  open  book  in  his  left  ;  a  little  lower 
down  sit  the  Apostles  in  a  semicircle  (now  only  ten  in  number,  since  a  restoration 
of  the  church  in  A.D.  1588);  their  gestures  and  features  are  full  of  expression, 
as  if  they  were  moved  and  inspired  by  the  words  of  Christ.  The  two  women 
standing  behind  them  with  wreaths  in  their  hands  evidently  stand  for  the  Church 
of  the  Gentiles  and  the  Church  of  the  Jews,  and  have  reference  to  Peter  and 
Paul,  who  sit  next  to  the  Saviour.'^  The  figures  in  this  composition  are 
distinguished  by  felicitous  arrangement,  by  the  union  of  freedom  with  severe 
symmetry,  by  a  vital  pictorial  interdependence  of  the  several  figures  ;  while  a 
background  is  provided  in  the  shape  of  an  open  .semicircular  hall  or  court,  above 
which  ri.se  stately  buildings.  On  a  hill  immediately  above  the  figure  of  the 
Saviour  rises  a  huge  cross  ornamented  with  precious  stones  ;  and  in  the  air  float 
the  .symbols  of  the  Iwangelists  (Fig.  45). 

The  bearded  type  of  Chri.st  is  here  particularly  noticeable,  as  this  is  one  of 
the  earliest  instances  where  it  occurs.  The  origin  of  this  new  conception,  which 
takes  its  place  side  by  side  with  the  beardless  ideal  type,  is  not  ascertained. 
It  is  impossible  not  to  recognise  that  there  were  points  of  resemblance  between 
the  anticjue  conception  of  Zeus  and  the  Christian  idea  of  the  Deity  ;  and  these 
will  not  have  failed  to  influence  the  embodiments  of  art.  Still,  any  direct 
transference  of  the  type  of  Zeus  to  Christ  must  be  considered  quite  excep- 
tional. Witness  the  legend  Creferred  to  A.D.  462)  of  a  painter  who.se  hands 
withered  away  because  he  gave  the  features  of  Jupiter  to  a  picture  of  Christ.  " 
In    looking    at   a   picture   like   this   of  Christ   in    the   character  of  teacher,   we 


EARLY  CHRISTIAN  PAINTING.  169 

rather  feel  that  some  type  of  an  ancient  philosopher  has  been  taken  for  a  model. 
The  bearded  Christ  occurs  more  frequently  in  the  fifth  century  ;  but  the  repre- 
sentation continues  to  fluctuate  until  at  last  the  classic  cast  of  features  disappears, 
and  a  severe  and  solemn  type,  with  lofty  forehead,  short  parted  beard,  and  long 
hair,  becomes  established  for  good  and  all.  He  is  still  represented  sometimes 
with  light  hair,  and  sometimes  with  dark.  The  latter  mode  was  founded  on  a 
description  of  Christ's  person  in  the  letter  of  Lentulus,  a  forgery  of  the  Middle 
Age.  The  head  in  S.  Pudentiana  has,  however,  but  little  in  common  with 
this  t}'pe.  It  is  just  as  classical  as  the  style,  the  drawing,  the  cast  of  drapery 
especially,  and  all  the  other  features  of  this  mosaic. 

In  presence  of  a  creation  like  this  mosaic  we  cannot  but  perceive,  not 
only  that  the  decadence  of  antique  art  since  the  time  of  Constantine  has  come 
to  a  temporary  halt,  but  even  that  a  certain  new  impulse  has  made  itself 
felt.  This  was  indeed  no  mere  matter  of  chance,  but  the  consequence  of 
conscious  care  and  encouragement.  The  increased  activity  of  architecture, 
more  especially  its  activity  in  raising  structures  destined  for  the  service  of  the 
new  religion,  had  aroused  a  demand  for  better- trained  powers.  Libanius 
relates  how  in  his  time  the  young  men  forsook  the  schools  of  the  rhetoricians 
and  philosophers  at  Antioch,  and  streamed  in  crowds  to  the  studios  of  the 
painters.^^  Laws  were  enacted  by  Constantine  (a.d.  334  and  337)  to  pro- 
mote the  training  of  architects,  and  to  grant  them  specific  exemptions,  as 
well  as  to  painters,  sculptors,  and  workers  in  mosaic.  In  A.D.  375  the 
Emperors  Valentinian,  Valens,  and  Gratian  promulgated  an  edict  granting 
important  privileges  to  "  professors  of  painting."^'*  The  schools  of  art  now 
once  more  encouraged  the  observance  of  traditions  ;  strictness  of  discipline  and 
academical  training  were  the  objects  kept  in  view  ;  and  the  student  was  taught 
to  work  not  independently  by  study  from  nature,  but  according  to  the  precedent 
of  the  best  classical  models.  The  mosaic  of  S.  Pudentiana  illustrates  the 
result  of  all  this  renewed  activity.  As  the  remains  wc  have  of  classic  painting 
are  merely  subordinate  and  decorative,  we  cannot  precisely  tell  what  relation  a 
work  like  this  mosaic  bore  to  the  best  paintings  of  the  later  classic  period.  We 
may  perhaps  assume  that  it  had  some  advantage  over  these  from  the  sincerity 
and  conviction  with  which  the  artist  had  grasped  the  spiritual  meaning  of  his  sub- 
ject.     It  reminds  the  modern  spectator  of  the  best  works  of  the  Renascence. 

Next  in  chronological  order  come  the  mosaics  of  the  great  basilica  of 
S.  Sabina  on  the  Aventine.  These  belong  to  the  time  of  Pope  Celestine  I.  (a.d, 
422-433);  the  only  portions  preserved  consist  of  the  marble  incrustations 
above  the  nave  arcades,  and  a  mosaic  on  the  inside  of  the  entrance-hall, 
consisting  of  a  large  dedicatory  inscription  in  gold  on  a  blue  ground,  enclosed 
between  two  female  figures  of  fine  proportions  and  draped  with  classical  dig- 
nity on  a  gold  ground  ;  these  arc  personifications  (as  the  inscription  states)  of 
the  Church  of  the  Jews  and  the  Church  of  the  Gentiles. 

z 


tyo  HISTORY  OF  PAINTINCx. 

Immediately  after  this  time  the  classical  style  began  to  lose  its  purity. 
During  the  gradual  decline  of  Rome  and  the  ever-increasing  decay  of  antique 
culture,  the  mastery  over  form  diminishes,  but  at  the  same  time  the  Christian 
spirit  grows  more  at  home  in  its  own  characteristic  range  of  ideas,  and  the 
circle  of  subjects  embodied  by  Christian  art  becomes  more  extended.  Thus 
narrative  pictures  from  history  begin  to  make  their  appearance,  though  as  yet 
they  onh-  occupy  a  modest  position  compared  with  those  which  merely  exhibit 
types  and  personages  without  action,  and  which  we  shall  therefore  call,  by  way 
of  distinction,  exhibitive  pictures, — a  position,  namely,  by  themselves  in  a  frieze 
over  the  upper  windows  of  the  nave. 

In  the  basilica  of  Santa  Maria  Maggiore  this  cycle  of  narrative  scenes  above 
the  windows  dates  (except  for  some  few  subjects  introduced  later)  as  far  back  as 
the  time  of  Sixtus  III.  (a.D.  432-440).  On  one  side  we  have  the  history  of  our 
first  parents,  on  the  other  that  of  Moses  and  Joshua.  The  treatment  still 
has  echoes  of  an  antique  feeling,  akin  to  that  of  the  reliefs  on  the  column  of 
Trajan,  but  the  work  is  without  coherence  in  the  composition,  and  on  too  small 
a  scale  for  proper  effect.  The  pictures  of  the  arch  of  the  tribune  are  enclosed 
in  like  manner  in  small  separate  compartments,  arranged  in  four  rows.  The 
throne  of  God,  the  symbol  of  his  omnipotence,  occupies  the  centre  over  the 
crown  of  the  arch  between  Peter  and  Paul  ;  then  follow  scenes  from  the 
infancy  of  Christ,  beginning  with  the  Annunciation  to  the  Virgin,  which  balances 
that  to  Zachariah  ;  lastly,  underneath,  the  cities  of  Jerusalem  and  Bethlehem 
represented  by  groups  of  walls  and  buildings.^^ 

Next  in  point  of  date  should  come  the  transept  arch  in  the  great  basilica 
of  S.  Paul,  which,  according  to  the  inscription,  received  its  mosaic  decorations 
under  Pope  Leo  I.  (about  A.D.  440)  through  the  instrumentality  of  Galla 
Placidia,  sister  of  the  Emperor  Honorius.  The  impression  this  work  produces  in 
its  present  condition  is  highly  barbaric  for  such  a  date.  It  was,  no  doubt,  much 
restored  after  the  great  fire  of  1823,  but  even  in  reproductions  made  before 
that  it  seems  to  show  a  character  unusual  at  that  early  period.  It  consists  of  a 
single  composition  from  the  Apocalypse  ;  in  the  centre  is  a  colossal  bust  of 
Christ  encircled  by  a  rainbow  ;  at  each  side  are  the  symbols  of  the  Evangelists, 
and  under  them  the  four-and-twenty  elders  holding  out  their  crowns  ;  and  last 
and  lowest,  Peter  and  Paul.^*^  The  personage  of  Christ,  represented  with  a  beard, 
a  low  forehead,  eyes  sloping  down  at  an  angle  towards  the  nose,  heavy  upper 
lip  and  moustache  growing  too  high,  is  intended  to  have  a  leonine  majesty, 
but  to  our  eyes  borders  on  the  ogreish.  The  gigantic  scale  of  the  picture  is 
designed  to  supply  the  spiritual  greatness  which  has  been  missed.  The  bowed 
figures  are  stiff,  the  colouring  monotonous,  and  the  gold  ground  unusual  for 
this  period,  though  it  appears  again  in  the  vaulting  of  the  little  chapel  of  S. 
John  the  Evangelist  in  the  Baptistery  of  the  Lateran,  which  received  under 
Pope  Hilarius  (a.D.  461-468)  a  purely  decorative  mosaic  ornament  of  the  earlier 
kind,  with  flowers,  fruits,  birds,  and  the  Lamb  of  God  in  the  centre.^'^ 


EARLY  CHRISTIAN   PAINTING.  171 

During  the  fifth  century,  while  state  and  cit}-  declined  more  and  more, 
while  the  prosperity  of  the  few  perished  with  that  of  the  many,  and  Rome 
herself  had  twice  undergone  the  horrors  of  plunder  at  the  hands  of  Visigoths 
and  \'andals,  one  power  held  out  hard  against  the  storms — the  Church.  Her 
wealth,  especiall)'  in  landed  property,  was  increased  by  the  gifts  of  the  faithful, 
and  she  was  able  to  bind  faster  than  ever  to  her  service  whatever  remained 
of  declining  artistic  talent  in  Rome.  When  prcscnth',  after  repeated  devasta- 
tions of  Italy,  after  the  fall  of  the  Western  Empire  and  a  period  of  complete 
disorganisation,  peaceful  and  orderly  conditions  returned,  coupled  with  a  deliber- 
ate pursuit  of  classic  culture,  under  the  rule  of  the  Ostrogothic  kings,  the  art 
of  Rome  revived  also.  Thus  it  came  to  pass  that  under  Pope  Felix  III.  (a.D. 
526-530)  a  work  could  be  produced  such  as  the  mosaics  of  the  Church  of 
SS.  Cosmas  and  Damian  in  the  Forum.^^  In  the  arch  of  the  tribune  appear  the 
Lamb  of  the  Apocalypse  on  the  throne  between  the  seven  candlesticks,  angels, 
the  symbols  of  the  Evangelists,  and  fragmentar}'  figures  of  the  elders.  The 
Apocal}'pse  is  at  this  time  the  favourite  source  for  representations  of  the 
Church  triumphant,  a  subject  in  which  the  cycle  of  mosaic  pictures  generally 
culminated  at  this  point  of  the  building.  The  picture  in  the  apse  follows 
that  of  the  tribune-arch,  forming  the  quiet  close  of  the  series,  and  generally 
taking  the  shape  of  a  simple  dedicatory  picture,  in  which  were  figured,  besides 
the  Redeemer,  who  remains  the  principal  personage,  the  patron  saint  and  the 
founder  of  the  church.  In  the  present  case  Christ  appears  not,  as  at  S. 
Pudentiana,  enthroned,  but  uplifted  on  clouds.  His  gesture  is  full  of  power, 
and  he  alone  wears  the  nimbus.  To  his  feet  draw  near  Peter  and  Paul,  leading 
forward  Cosmas  and  Damian  ;  and  at  the  extremity  of  the  composition,  on 
either  side  the  founder.  Pope  Felix  (this  figure  has  been  restored)  and 
S.  Theodore,  behind  whom  rises  a  palm-tree.  On  one  of  the  trees  sits  a  phoenix 
crowned  with  a  star,  a  symbol  of  immortality  borrowed  by  Christian  art  from 
antiquity.  A  frieze-like  border  under  the  principal  picture  contains  the  Lamb 
of  God  standing  on  a  rocky  ground  above  the  four  rivers  of  Paradise,  and 
approached  by  twelve  lambs,  symbolising  the  Apostles,  who  draw  near  from 
the  cities  of  Bethlehem  and  Jerusalem  (Fig.  46).  The  ground  is  blue  with 
a  slight  indication  of  clouds,  and  a  golden  glory  at  the  top.  The  importance 
of  the  principal  figure  is  symbolically  enhanced  by  the  large  scale  on  which  it 
is  drawn.  Cosmas  and  Damian  on  their  parts  arc  somewhat  smaller  than 
the  Apostles,  to  whom  they  are  to  be  regarded  as  subordinate.  The  bearded 
figure  of  Christ  already  bears  the  stamp  of  the  later  type,  and  no  longer  shows 
the  free  classical  character  which  gives  us  pleasure  in  the  mosaic  of  S. 
Pudentiana.  The  types  of  the  other  figures,  too,  arc  severe,  reserved,  and 
almost  gloomy.  The  attitudes,  with  all  their  fixed  solemnity,  are  still  expressive 
and  not  devoid  of  freedom,  the  draperies  anti([ue,  excepting  that  of  the  two 
saints  of  date  then  recent,  who  wear  a   contc-mjxirar)'  costume   overladen   with 


172 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


ornament  and  without  nobility  of  cast.  A  careful  study  of  nature  is  still  appa- 
rent in  the  lambs  of  the  lower  border.  But  what  we  miss  in  this  picture,  if 
we  compare  it  with  that  of  S.  Pudentiana,  is  the  true  pictorial  arrangement, 
the  vital  connection  of  the  single  figures  with  one  another  in  the  composition, 
the  appropriate  relations  of  the  figures  to  their  background. 

The   antique   models   in  use   at  this   time  were  evidently  chiefly  works  of 
sculpture.      According  to  Cassiodorus,  there  were  still  existing  in  Rome,  in  the 


Fig.  46. 

time  of  Theodoric,  a  whole  population  of  statues.  Antique  statues  of  gods, 
orators,  and  consuls  have  been  the  favourite  models  preferred  for  these  Christian 
figures,  in  motives,  attitudes,  and  gestures,  as  well  as  in  drapery.  An  exclu- 
sively statuesque  style  gradually  develops  itself  in  mosaic  design  ;  the  drawing 
and  modelling  of  single  figures  are  still  excellent,  but  the  instinct  for  perspec- 
tive arrangement  disappears,  and  with  it  the  sense  of  the  characteristic  differ- 
ences between  sculpture  and  painting.  It  had  taken  centuries  of  development 
for  Greek  art  to  find  its  way  to  the  formation  of  a  complete  pictorial  style  ; 
and  this  conquest  was  destined  now  to  be  lost  in  the  hands  of  a  race  still 
governed  by  classical  traditions.  Nearly  a  thousand  years  had  to  pass  away 
before  the  art  of  Christendom  was  to  be  in  a  position  to  win  back  again  what 
had  been  thus  lost ;  and  in  order  to  do  so,  it  had  to  begin  once  more  at  the  very 
beginning,  and  again  repeat  all  the  stages  of  a  primitive  practice. 

In  the  basilica  of  SS.  Cosmas  and  Damian,  and  in  the  monuments  of  the  period 
immediately  following,  we  find  single  figures  of  much  power  arranged  in  strict 


EARLY  CHRISTIAN  PAINTING.  173 

symmetry  and  exactly  balanced.  No  community  of  action,  nothing  but  a 
community  of  meaning  and  nature,  connects  the  figures  ;  they  stand  merely 
exhibiting  themselves  severally  before  us,  and  seem  to  be  conscious  that  the 
eyes  of  the  community,  nay,  of  all  Christendom,  are  upon  them.  Architectural 
or  landscape  backgrounds,  such  as  were  formerly  customary,  are  to  be  found  no 
longer.  It  is  only  when  the  beauties  of  Paradise  are  to  be  expressly  symbolised 
that  we  see  a  meadow  studded  with  flowers,  graceful  palm-trees  rising  symme- 
trically aloft,  and  four  springs  issuing  from  the  ground  in  the  centre  to  typify 
the  four  rivers.  The  characteristic  aim  of  the  designer  is,  however,  to  let  his 
figures  appear  without  any  surroundings  either  on  a  dark  blue  ground,  as  in 
the  present  case,  or  on  a  gold  ground,  as  in  S.  Pudentiana.  But  with  the  full 
development  of  this  style  the  danger  of  stiffening  into  formalism  is  already 
at  hand.  Among  Roman  mosaics,  that  in  SS.  Cosmas  and  Damian  is  the 
last  of  real  artistic  value  ;  immediately  after  this  begins  the  distinct  decline 
of  Early  Christian  art. 

II. — Ravenna. — Mosaics  of  the  classical  period  of  Early  Christian  art  are 
also  preserved  in  other  Italian  towns.  In  Milan  the  chapel  of  S.  Satirus  off 
the  church  of  S.  Ambrose,  and  of  S.  Aquilinus  off  that  of  S.  Lawrence,  contain 
noteworthy  mosaics  of  the  fifth  century,^'*  In  Naples  the  stunted  dome  of  the 
small  square  Baptistery  of  San  Giovaruii  in  fonte,  close  to  the  cathedral,  though 
spoilt  by  restoration,  deserves  notice  for  its  rich  decorations  ;  it  belongs  to  the 
time  of  Bishop  Vincentius,  the  latter  half  of  the  sixth  century.  Festoons  of 
fruit,  rich  ornaments,  and  birds,  form  the  border  of  the  figure  composition,  a 
small  part  of  which  only  is  preserved. "°  Lastly,  Ravenna  became  a  distin- 
guished seat  of  Italian  art  after  Honorius,  on  the  invasion  of  the  Visigoths, 
had  transferred  thither  the  Imperial  residence  (a.D.  404).  In  no  other  place 
can  we  now  find  such  a  complete  and  connected  illustration  of  the  Christian 
art  of  this  period.""^ 

The  Ravenna  mosaics  produce  such  a  powerful  impression  that  those  at 
Rome  are  often  depreciated  in  comparison  with  them.  Nevertheless,  Rome  was 
always  the  chief  centre  of  this  art  in  Italy,  and  it  was  from  Rome  that  Ravenna 
received  her  first  impulse  to  artistic  activity  ;  so  that  the  development  as  well  as 
the  decadence  of  the  art  are  subject  in  both  places  to  the  same  conditions. 
The  opinion  expressed  by  Messrs.  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle,  that  Ravenna, 
exhibits  a  superiority  due  to  its  closer  connection  with  the  Greek  world,  is 
neither  confirmed  by  an  examination  of  the  monuments,  nor  sufficiently  estab- 
lished by  history.  But  Ravenna  is  important  for  this  reason,  that  its  monu- 
ments were  neither  so  much  devastated  in  later  times,  nor  so  spoilt  by  showy 
restorations,  as  were  those  of  the  Imperial  city.  The  mosaics  of  Ravenna  are 
for  the  most  part  better  preserved,  and  they  form  a  more  connected  series,  than 
those  at  Rome. 


174  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

Thus  at  the  outset  we  find  in  the  Baptistery  of  the  orthodox,  San 
Giova)ini  hi  fonte,  what  we  should  rarely  seek  for  in  Rome, — a  well-pre- 
served example  of  a  complete  scheme  of  interior  decoration  on  a  large  scale.""^ 
This  dome-rooofed  octagonal  structure  (of  the  time  of  Bishop  Neo,  about  A.D. 
425-430)  contains  in  the  spandrils  of  its  lower  arcades  some  vine  ornamentation 
of  complete  beauty,  and  in  each  division  an  oval  with  an  excellent  draped  figure 
of  a  Saint,  very  greatly  superior  to  similar  draped  figures  in  plaster  which 
stand  between  the  arcades  of  the  upper  story.  On  the  border  at  the  spring 
of  the  dome,  the  mosaic  begins  again,  first  with  a  frieze  containing  a  series  of 
views  of  colonnaded  churches,  each  with  a  nave  and  two  aisles,  which  are  in- 
tended as  symbols  of  the  church  itself ;  then  on  the  vaulting,  the  twelve  Apostles 
in  a  circle,  who,  with  crowns  in  their  hands,  close  in  towards  one  another  in  a 
solemn  ring.  Over  their  heads  hang  draperies,  and  between  them  spring  up 
conventionalised  flowers  to  indicate  that  the  scene  is  laid  in  Paradise ;  their 
heads  have  the  individual  character  of  Roman  portraits.  The  round  in  the 
middle  is  occupied  with  the  baptism  of  Christ.  In  the  figure  of  John  the 
Baptist,  the  knowledge  of  the  human  form  and  the  nobility  and  expressiveness 
of  gesture  are  astonishing.  The  Jordan  is  personified  in  antique  fashion  as  a 
river-god. 

The  mosaics  in  the  church  of  SS.  Nazarus  and  Celsus  are  of  equal  artistic 
value  ;  this  church  had  been  a  sepulchral  chapel  of  the  Empress-Regent  Galla 
Placidia  [d.  A.D.  450),  who  had  erected  it  during  her  own  lifetime."^  The  dome  over 
the  intersection  of  nave  and  transept  contains  a  cross  and  the  symbols  of  the  four 
Evangelists  ;  the  transepts  themselves  are  decorated  with  figures  of  Apostles. 
The  field  of  the  arch  over  the  end  wall  of  the  choir  is  divided  by  a  window,  on 
the  right  side  of  which  is  S.  Lawrence  walking  towards  the  glowing  stake  and 
bearing  a  cross  on  his  shoulder  ;  the  representation  of  the  actual  martyrdom  is 
thus  avoided  ;  on  the  left  side  is  a  shrine  with  the  four  Evangelists,  The 
finest  picture  is  that  which  fills  the  arch  over  the  entrance.  The  Good  Shepherd, 
clad  in  golden  tunic  and  purple  mantle,  sits  reposing  amid  a  rocky  coast-land- 
scape, the  left  hand  raised  to  hold  the  golden  cross-surmounted  staff,  the  right 
stretched  with  a  kindlv  "csture  across  the  bosom  to  caress  a  lamb.  The 
animals  are  more  inadequately  treated  than  in  SS.  Cosmas  and  Damian  in 
Rome,  but  the  principal  figure  still  exhibits  an  antique  sweep  and  flow  of  line 
(Fig.  47).  Here  the  Good  Shepherd  is  represented  not  only  as  a  symbol 
of  redemption,  but  as  the  personal  Christ  himself ;  as  is  shown  by  his 
nimbus,  cross,  and  solemn  attitude,  in  contrast  to  the  every-da}'  aspect  which 
he  wears  in  the  catacombs.  The  ground  is  blue  throughout  ;  vine  branches, 
garlands,  and  meander  ornaments  form  the  border. 

The  vigorous  artistic  activity  of  Ravenna  continued  after  the  city  had  be- 
come the  capital  of  the  Ostrogothic  kingdom  in  Italy  (a.d.  493).  Theodoric  not 
onh-  strove  to  prolong  the  culture  and  to  protect   the  monuments  of  antiquity, 


176  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

but  also  to  patronise  and  encourage  the  art  which  he  found  already  existing 
among  the  native  inhabitants  ;  and  although  the  Goths  were  Arians,  the  toler- 
ance of  the  king  nevertheless  established  a  good  understanding  with  the  Roman 
Church,  until  Pope  John  yielded  to  the  instigations  which  reached  him  from 
Byzantium  against  those  heretics  (a.D.  523).  We  are  therefore  not  aware  of  any 
subject  in  the  mosaics  of  the  Ostrogothic  period  at  Ravenna  which  points  to  a 
peculiarity  of  doctrine,  or  of  any  divergence  in  their  style  compared  with  the 
Roman  mosaics,  except  such  as  naturally  follows  from  their  later  origin.  The 
mosaic  in  the  dome  of  the  Arian  Baptistery  {Santa  Maria  in  Cosmedin)  corre- 
sponds in  subject  altogether  with  that  in  the  orthodox  Baptistery,  but  the  st}-le 
is  already  much  farther  removed  from  classical  tradition.^^  In  the  scene  of  the 
baptism,  the  motive  of  the  S.  John  is  lamer,  his  attitude  awkward,  and  the 
Jordan  is  figured,  as  often  happens  in  the  representation  of  river-gods,  with 
cray-fish  claws  attached  to  his  head.  The  drapery  of  the  Apostles,  who  fill  the 
circle  which  surrounds  the  centre  picture,  is  treated  in  a  more  conventional 
manner  ;  palm-trees  rise  between  the  single  figures,  which  advance  from  both 
sides  towards  a  magnificent  throne,  the  symbol  of  the  divine  judgment. 

The  basilica  of  San  Apollinare  Nuovo,  formerly  known  by  the  name  of 
^.  Martinus  in  coelo  aureo,  which  was  the  Royal  Chapel  of  Theodoric  and  is 
contiguous  to  his  palace,  has  lost  its  ancient  apse,  but  still  possesses  a  complete 
mosaic  decoration  in  the  nave."^  Of  the  series  of  pictures  ornamenting  the  side 
walls,  let  us  consider  first  the  middle  and  upper  courses,  which  belong  to  the 
Arian  time.  Beside  and  between  the  windows  stand  thirty  full-face  figures  of 
dignified  Apostles  and  Saints  in  niches  ;  in  the  character  of  the  heads  and  of 
the  drapery  they  are  nearer  to  the  best  period  than  the  pictures  in  the  Arian 
baptistery. 

Above  the  windows  on  both  sides  runs  a  frieze  of  narrative  pictures,  separated 
by  the  heads  of  some  niches  below,  in  the  shape  of  small  semi-domes  divided  by 
pairs  of  doves,  and  containing  figures  of  Saints.  Each  side  contains  thirteen 
compositions  ;  on  the  north  we  find  the  works  and  miracles  of  Christ,  which 
are  interrupted  in  the  fourth  space  by  a  picture  of  Christ,  not  in  action, 
but  stationary,  between  the  sheep  and  the  goats.  This  is  especially  good  in 
style,  in  the  others  the  treatment  is  cramped  by  the  circumstance  that  the  con- 
ception is  too  much  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  sculpture,  as  is  also  the  case  in 
mosaics  of  the  same  period  in  Rome  ;  the  principal  figure  seems  to  address 
itself  separately  to  the  spectator,  instead  of  taking  a  part  in  the  action.  There 
are  only  a  few  figures  in  the  design,  the  crowd  of  disciples  being  generally 
indicated  by  one  who  is  their  leader.  The  Christ  is  of  the  youthful  type 
beardless,  and  with  long  hair.  The  more  symbolic  than  dramatic  treatment 
of  the  catacomb  pictures  is  still  apparent  here,  but  their  soft  flow  of  line 
is  lost. 

In  the  pictures  opposite  these  the  type  of  Christ   is  entirely  different.      He 


EARLY  CHRISTIAN  PAINTING.  177 

is  older  and  bearded,  but  fair  ;  his  expression  is  dignified,  and  his  superiority 
over  the  other  personages  is  at  once  shown  by  the  fact  that  he  stands  half  a 
head  taller  than  most  of  them.  The  story  of  the  Passion  is  here  set  forth, 
beginning  with  the  Last  Supper,  at  which  all  the  figures  are  reclining  round  an 
S-shaped  triclinium,  and  a  fish  is  used  as  a  symbol  of  Christ  instead  of  the 
bread  and  wine.  Not  only  the  crucifixion  itself,  but  the  scenes  of  persecution, 
the  scourging  and  mocking,  are  missing  in  this  series  ;  immediately  after  the 
Bearing  of  the  Cross  follow  in  order  the  Maries  at  the  tomb,  the  walk  to 
Emmaus,  the  risen  Christ  among  the  Apostles. 

According  to  the  Liber  Pontificalis  of  Ravenna,  Bishop  Agnellus  (about  a.d. 
553-556),  under  whom  the  church  became  Catholic,  caused  to  be  executed  not 
only  the  mosaics  of  the  tribune  now  destroyed,  but  also  those  on  the  side  walls 
of  the  nave,  with  the  procession  of  Martyrs  and  Virgins.  The  later  origin  of 
this  series  of  pictures,  the  lowest  immediately  over  the  arcades,  is  confirmed 
by  their  style.  On  the  north  advances  a  long  train  of  female,  and  on  the  south 
of  male,  Saints,  all  in  white  robes,  and  with  crowns  on  their  veiled  heads, 
the  women  with  golden  mantles.  They  are  proceeding  from  the  city  of  Ravenna, 
which  is  indicated  by  a  view  of  the  royal  palace  and  the  harbour,  and  direct- 
ing their  steps  in  the  one  case  towards  Mary,  and  in  the  other  towards  Christ, 
who  sit  enthroned  opposite  each  other  between  four  angels.  The  whole  is 
designed  under  the  influence  of  antique  bas-reliefs  ;  the  balance  of  the  two 
sides  is  strictly  maintained  ;  on  each  there  is  the  same  tranquil  advance,  the 
same  regular  distribution  of  figures  in  the  space,  the  same  uniform  height  for 
seated  and  for  standing  figures.  But  though  the  general  impression  may  be 
solemn  and  noble,  yet  the  motives  of  the  single  figures  are  timid,  the  drawing 
of  the  heads  feeble,  and  the  modelling  inadequate. 

The  two  periods  to  which  the  pictures  in  San  ApolUnare  Nuovo  belong  are 
thus  sharply  defined,  however  closely  they  may  approach  one  another.  Here, 
as  in  Rome,  the  classical  period  of  Early  Christian  art  passed  away  with  the 
close  of  the  Ostrogothic  rule  and  the  assumption  of  power  by  the  Byzantines. 
The  period  immediately  following  that  in  which  the  Catholic  creed  had  gained 
undisputed  ascendancy  was  a  highly  productive  period  in  Ravenna,  and  the 
works  which  we  must  next  examine  are,  for  the  most  part,  anterior  to  the  frieze 
just  described.  The  oldest  of  the  mosaics  in  the  private  chapel  of  the  arch- 
bishop's palace,  especially  the  busts  on  the  arches,  date  as  far  back  as  the 
time  of  Bishop  Maximian,  as  is  testified  by  the  appearance  on  them  of  his 
monogram.^"  The  four  angels  carrying  a  shield  w  ith  the  monogram  of  Christ,  in 
the  vaulting  of  the  vestibule,  show  a  motive  which  uc  find  repeated  with  greater 
beauty  in  the  church  of  S.  Vitalis.  The  rest  is  patchwork  of  a  later  date. 
The  mosaics  obtained  for  the  Berlin  Museum  from  the  dismantled  church 
of  San  Michele  in  Affricisco  (consecrated  A.D.  543)  are  not  yet  on  view. 
According    to   published    reproductions,   the    arch   of   the   tribune   contained    r. 

2  A 


178 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


bearded    Christ  between  angels  with  trumpets,  and   the  apse  a  Christ  beard- 
less, bearing  the  attribute  of  the  book  and  surrounded  by  angels.^'^ 

Lastly,  the  most  important  creation  of  this  period  is  the  large  and  well- 
preserved  series  of  pictures  in  the  choir  of  S. 
Vitalis.  "^  This  church  was  begun  A.D.  526,  under 
Bishop  Ecclesius,  and  completed  A.D.  547,  under 
Bishop  Maximian  (Fig.  48).  In  the  semi-dome 
of  the  apse  (i)  appears  Christ  enthroned  on  a 
gold  ground  above  the  sacred  rivers  of  Paradise, 
attended  by  two  angels,  by  S.  Vital  is,  to  whom 
he  gives  a  crown,  and  by  the  founder,  Bishop 
Ecclesius,  who  carries  a  model  of  the  church. 
The  latter  is  a  true  Roman  portrait  for  individu- 
ality of  character  ;  Christ  still  appears  under  the 
ideal  type,  which  has  naturally  become  by  this 
time  more  and  more  formal,  of  a  beardless 
youth.  This  dedicatory  picture  is  better,  because  founded  on  better  models, 
than  the  two  corresponding  ceremonial  pictures  on  the  lower  wall  of  the  apse  at 
each  side  of  the  windows  ;  these  represent  the  Emperor  Justinian  with  Bishop 
Maximian,  and  the  Empress  Theodora  ;  the  Emperor  and  Empress  advance 
to  meet  each  other  in  magnificent  court  costume,  and  followed  by  a  numerous 
suite   (Fig.  49).      Justinian    never  was  in   person   in   Ravenna,  but   he  appears 


m 

3  / 

^X^ 

/^4^-N\ 

11 

''ft 

1^ 

6 

5 

1    ^fe 

8          7 

9 

m. 

11 

/^^x 

B 

/_'°  \ 

2 

■ 

c\r\ 

r\     . 

1 

H     V 

1 

Fig.  48. 


Fig-  49- 


here  with  his  wife  in  the  character  of  donor  because  of  his  rich  gifts  to  the 
church.  His  features  bear  distinctly  the  portrait  character  which  Early  Chris- 
tian art  was  able  long  to  maintain  under  the  influence  of  Roman  traditions,  and 


EARLY  CHRISTIAN  PAINTINCx.  179 

quite  coincide  with  those  of  the  bust  preserved  in  a  side  chapel  of  the  church  of 
S.  ApolHnaris  as  being  a  fragment  of  the  original  mosaics  of  the  entrance  wall. 
They  equally  agree  with  the  effigy  on  his  coins.  The  features  of  the  successive 
Emperors  were  well  known  in  all  parts  of  the  Empire,  as  their  effigies  were  sent 
broadcast  through  the  lands  immediately  after  their  accession.  The  features  of 
the  Bishop  are  also  highly  characteristic.  The  costumes  are  quite  as  strongl}^ 
marked  as  the  figures  themseh^es,  and  as  in  representing  these  sumptuous  court 
dresses  antique  models  of  drapery  could  be  of  no  use,  so  their  treatment  is 
petty  and  dry.  The  several  groups,  too,  in  each  picture,  are  not  clearly  enough 
developed,  the  figures  are  monotonous  in  attitude  and  carriage  of  head,  and  bear 
the  stamp  of  a  ceremonial  formality."^ 

In  the  adjacent  altar-sanctuary  the  mosaic  of  the  vaulting  (3),  which  is 
essentially  decorative,  surpasses  all  the  rest.  Four  wreaths  of  fruit,  each  sur- 
mounting a  peacock  standing  on  a  globe,  divide  the  vault  into  as  many  com- 
partments, in  each  of  which  stand  four  angels  in  noble  and  expressive  attitudes, 
supporting  the  central  medallion  in  which  is  figured  the  Lamb  of  God.  The 
mosaics  on  the  walls  to  right  and  left  balance  each  other  in  a  strictly  symme- 
trical arrangement.  The  face  of  the  upper  arch  (4)  is  only  filled  with  ornaments; 
the  spaces  to  right  and  left  of  the  upper  window  (5,  6)  contain  figures  of  the 
Evangelists  as  old  men,  with  their  symbols.  Over  the  crown  of  the  lower  arcade 
(7)  float  two  angels  in  the  air  with  the  cross.  The  adjacent  spandrils  show, 
on  the  side  next  the  body  of  the  church  (8),  a  figure  of  the  prophet  Jeremiah, 
and  opposite,  that  of  Isaiah  ;  on  a  broader  field  next  the  apse  appears  Moses 
on  Mount  Sinai,  a  beardless  ideal  figure  raised  above  a  group  of  common 
people,  which  by  its  rudeness  proves  how  unskilful  was  the  art  of  this  age  as 
soon  as  it  was  thrown  without  precedent  upon  reality.  Opposite  this  group 
is  Moses  loosing  his  sandals  from  off  his  feet  before  the  burning  bush,  and 
underneath  Moses  in  the  character  of  a  shepherd  among  his  sheep.  Lastly, 
the  great  arched  space  over  the  arcades  (10)  contains  certain  scenes  from  the 
old  Testament  which  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  designates  as  types  of  the 
death  of  Christ  ;  on  one  wall  is  Abraham  entertaining  the  three  angels,  as  well 
as  Abraham  about  to  sacrifice  Isaac  ;  on  the  opposite  wall  Abel  with  the  lamb 
and  Mclchisedek  with  the  bread-offering  on  either  side  of  an  altar.  l^usts 
of  Saints  and  Apostles,  and  originally  one  of  Christ  also,  on  the  broad  arch 
leading  to  the  space  under  the  dome,  bring  the  whole  series  to  a  conclusion. 

However  grand  the  effect  which  this  series  always  produces  as  a  whole,  it 
nevertheless  stands  on  a  lower  artistic  level  than  the  earlier  work.  The  figures 
and  motives  are  at  their  best  when  the  artist  has  been  able  to  make  use  of  older 
and  more  perfect  models — as  in  the  design  of  Christ  and  the  angels  in  the  apse, 
Abraham  offering  up  Isaac,  and  Moses  loosening  his  sandals  over  the  altar  ; 
and  at  their  worst  when  he  has  been  thrown  more  strictly  on  his  own  resources,  as 
in  the  sorry  figure  of  Abraham  ministering  to  the  angels.     The  drapery  is  gcner- 


i8o  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

ally  very  careful,  but  already  begins  to  be  stiff,  and  the  outlines  are  heavy.  In 
the  scenes  of  sacrifice  for  instance,  the  dogmatic  purpose  stifles  the  pictorial 
representation  of  the  action.  Much  space  is  given  to  landscape,  but  it  is  a  land- 
scape which  fails  to  satisfy  from  its  total  want  of  true  perspective.  Moreover 
the  mass  of  green,  taken  together  with  the  prevailing  white  of  the  draperies, 
renders  the  tone  of  colour  very  monotonous. 

The  age  when  Justinian,  being  Emperor  of  the  East  (a.D.  527-565),  had  also 
brought  back  the  West  into  subjection,  is  an  important  period  in  the  history  of 
art,  as  it  was  then  that  the  continuous  living  influence  of  antique  culture  was  ex- 
tinguished. The  barbarians,  who  had  been  held  in  check  for  a  time  by  the 
powerful  rule  of  the  Ostrogoths,  now  broke  irresistibly  forth.  Uncivilised  Lom- 
bards established  themselves  firmly  in  Italy.  The  ideal  spirit  of  early  Christen- 
dom disappears  beneath  dogmatic  formalism.  Superstition,  Saint -worship, 
relic-worship — polytheism,  in  fact,  under  another  form — become  naturalised. 
Monachism  becomes  a  regular  institution  of  the  Church.  Asceticism  lays  hold 
of  the  souls  of  men,  searing  instead  of  ennobling  their  natural  impulses.  As  in 
the  domain  of  law,  to  which  its  highest  achievements  belong,  the  age  of  Justinian 
made  an  end  of  free  and  constructive  activity  by  a  process  of  codification, 
co-ordination,  and  settlement,  so  in  art  the  age  was  content  to  reproduce  what 
had  been  handed  down  without  exhibiting  any  original  creative  impulse. 
Forms,  design,  and  drapery,  conform  more  and  more  to  a  set  system,  and 
rigidity,  stiffness,  and  constraint  predominate  more  and  more  in  composition. 
Movements  seem  no  longer  inspired  by  an  active  will,  emotional  life  expresses 
itself  no  longer  in  the  features.  As  the  characters,  so  also  the  gestures  become 
typical  merely  ;  their  language  becomes  of  the  narrowest  range.  Ever  the  same 
is  the  action  of  an  advancing  foot,  the  turn  of  a  head,  the  uplifted  hand  of  a 
speaker.  The  habit  of  an  independent  study  of  nature  had  long  been  giv^en 
up,  but  now  the  power  of  understanding  and  selecting  among  artistic  precedents 
begins  to  disappear  also.  The  nude  is  more  and  more  avoided  in  consequence 
of  a  rigid  and  prudish  modesty  which  here  comes  in  to  second  the  growing 
incapacity  of  art. 

The  dramatis  persona:  of  Christianity,  among  whom  the  artist  has  to  take 
his  subjects,  are  of  a  nature  to  encourage  the  monotony  of  expression  towards 
which  this  period  gradually  feels  its  way.  Within  their  limits  austere  dignity 
and  solemn  holiness  prevail,  as  in  the  persons  of  Christ,  the  Apostles,  and 
Mary,  who  is  always  represented  not  as  a  young  girl  but  as  a  matron.  Pure 
beauty  can  scarcely  find  a  place  here,  or  at  least  only  in  the  ideal  forms  of 
angels,  noble  youthful  beings  who  appear  with  soft  flowing  draperies  and  unshod 
feet.  The  classical  feeling  for  form  has  often,  both  at  this  time  and  later, 
life  enough  yet  to  make  amends  for  the  narrow  range  of  Christian  images  by 
the  introduction  of  free  ideal  figures  and  personifications  in  the  antique  style  ; 
but  however  frequently  such  inventions  may  find  place  in   illuminated   manu- 


EARLY  CHRISTIAN  PAINTING.  i8t 

scripts,   they  very  seldom  occur  in   the    monumental    art  of  church   mosaics. 
In  these  the  dogmatic  and  didactic  tendency  are  uppermost. 

We  must  however  be  on  our  guard  against  designating  this  style,  which 
develops  itself  in  Italian  works  from  the  time  of  Justinian,  as  Byzantine.  Such 
a  designation  would  involve  the  mistake  of  supposing  that  the  Italian  artists 
had  made  a  breach  with  native  practice,  and  that  new  models  and  new  powers 
had  been  imported  from  Byzantium  with  the  Byzantine  conquest.  There  is 
nothing  to  betoken  or  to  prove  such  a  change.  Greek  inscriptions  do  not  once 
appear  on  the  mosaics  executed  at  Ravenna  in  the  days  following  Justinian, 
though  in  other  and  later  works  such  inscriptions  do  serve  to  establish  up  to 
a  certain  point  the  fact  of  their  Greek  authorship.  The  historian  of  art 
should  make  it  his  business  to  define  the  idea  of  Byzantine  art  more  precisely 
than  has  usually  been  done.  In  the  Early  Christian  centuries  the  art  of 
Byzantium  is  not  distinguishable  in  character  from  that  of  Italy.  In  the  same 
way  that  the  Greco-Roman  style  belonged  to  the  whole  civilised  world,  and  held 
sway  equally  in  Italy,  Gaul,  Africa,  Syria,  and  Greece,  so  Christian  art  also  had 
everywhere  at  first  the  same  homogeneous  character.  We  shall  not  arrive  until 
later  at  the  moment  of  a  real  artistic  severance  between  Byzantium  and  the  West. 
But  when  such  severance  happens,  we  shall  find  that  the  characteristic  of  the 
eastern  as  compared  with  the  western  work  is  b)^  no  means  its  greater  rigidity 
and  formality  ;  but  rather  its  firmer  hold  on  antique  practice  and  tradition. 

III. — Byzantium. — Declining  Rome  had  long  been  thrown  into  the  shade 
by  the  new  capital  of  the  world  which  Constantine  had  founded  on  the  frontier 
of  Europe  and  Asia.  The  little  Greek  seaport  Byzantium  had  been  trans- 
formed into  the  Imperial  capital  Constantinople.  Where  the  narrow  strait  of 
the  Bosphorus  expands  towards  the  Propontis,  arose  the  "  New  Rome,"  well 
placed  for  commerce,  which  poured  into  her  lap  the  treasures  of  two  quarters  of 
the  world,  and  well  protected  from  all  attack.  Between  the  sea  and  the  deeply 
indented  harbour  of  the  Golden  Horn,  the  city,  arising  at  the  word  of  a  despot, 
branched  far  over  hill  and  dale.  Walls  and  colonnades,  conduits  and  hippo- 
dromes, baths  and  public  buildings,  stood  soon  completed  ;  the  towns  of  Greece 
and  of  the  East  had  to  yield  up  their  most  precious  treasures,  their  monu- 
ments of  marble  and  bronze,  even  their  manuscripts  and  libraries,  to  enrich  the 
new  imperial  city.  A  great  population  was  artificially  attracted,  and  in  this 
place  of  luxury  artistic  talents  of  every  kind  found  a  field  for  exercise.'**'  Byzan- 
tine art,  no  less  than  the  Western  art  of  the  same  period,  lies  under  the  influ- 
ence of  antique  tradition.  Bui  in  Hyzaiitiuin  that  tradition  was  preserved  much 
longer  uncorrupted  than  in  the  West,  and  kept  ali\'c  b}-  the  multitude  of  models 
of  good  periods  accumulated  in  the  city  since  its  foundation.  Constantinople 
was  spared  the  invasions  of  the  barbarians.  The  lu.\ur\-  of  the  Court,  which 
had   its   home   in   the  residential  city  of  tiic  ICmperor,  was  favourable  to  artistic 


i82  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

production.  Under  these  circumstances  the  skill  of  the  mosaic  workers  main- 
tained a  higher  general  level  here  than  elsewhere,  and  was  distinguished  by  excep- 
tional qualities  of  soundness  and  precision. 

The  examples  of  monumental  painting  which  remain  to  us  in  the  shape  of 
mosaic  are  indeed  very  insufficient  to  enable  us  to  judge  of  the  character  and 
history  of  Byzantine  painting  in  general  in  the  first  centuries  after  the  founding 
of  Constantinople.  Such  examples  are  in  fact  few,  and  their  dates  uncertain. 
The  accounts  of  B}'zantine  painting  given  even  in  our  best  histories  of  art 
repose  on  mistaken  assumptions  which  assign  to  an  early  period  works  belonging 
to  a  later. 

The  chief  monument  of  art  due  to  Justinian  is  the  church  dedicated  in 
Constantinople  to  the  Hagia  Sophia  or  Divine  Wisdom,  the  second  person 
of  the  Trinity.  This  was  begun  in  A.i).  532  after  an  older  building  of  the  age 
of  Constantine  had  perished  during  the  Nike-xeheWxoVi.  It  is  now  transformed 
into  a  Turkish  mosque  ;  the  mosaics  are  only  partly  visible,  being  covered  with 
whitewash,  but  at  the  last  restoration  (a.d.  i  847)  what  remained  was  uncovered 
for  a  time,  so  that  copies  could  be  made.  All  the  varieties  of  decorative 
practice  of  which  the  New  Rome  was  mistress,  unfolded  themselves  in  the 
interior  of  this  church.  In  those  parts  of  the  scheme  that  were  directly 
connected  with  the  architecture,  the  system  of  surface  ornament,  or  as  it 
were,  monumental  carpeting,  prevailed  below,  in  the  shape  of  an  incrustation 
of  coloured  marbles  ;  above,  over  the  cornices  and  on  the  vaulted  roofs  and 
arches,  in  that  of  a  mosaic  of  coloured  glass.  But  our  materials  do  not  enable 
us  to  be  certain  how  much,  or  indeed  whether  any,  of  the  existing  work  dates 
back  to  the  time  of  Justinian  himself.  The  greater  part  evidently  owes  its 
existence  to  later  restorations  and  additions;  we  can  therefore  only  speak  of 
the  mosaics  of  S.  Sophia  in  a  later  portion  of  our  book. 

The  circular  church  of  S.  George  at  SalonicJii  (Thessalonica),  now  also  turned 
into  a  mosque,  gives  us,  however,  still  some  idea  of  the  style  prevalent  in 
mosaics  at  the  time  of  Justinian.  The  rectangular  niches  of  the  lower  building 
are  filled  with  fruits,  branches,  and  birds  ;  the  dome  is  decorated  with  single 
figures  of  solemn  saints,  and  over  them  is  depicted  a  stately  architecture 
enlivened  by  a  number  of  birds  symmetrically  disposed,  and  relieved  against  a 
field  of  gold  (Fig.  50).'' 

The  mosaics  in  the  church  of  the  monastery  of  Mount  Sinai,  which  have 
been  described  by  recent  travellers,  are  no  doubt  important,  but  their  date  is 
unknown.  Over  the  arch  two  flying  angels  hold  busts  of  a  beardless  Moses, 
and  of  S.  Catherine  ;  at  the  sides  we  see  Moses  before  the  burning  bush,  and 
Moses  with  the  tables  of  the  law  on  Mount  Sinai.  The  apse  contains  a  grand 
picture  of  the  Transfiguration,  surrounded  by  a  border  of  busts  of  prophets  and 
saints.'^" 

There  was  another  order  of  mosaic  pictures  which  has  entirely  disappeared 


EARLY  CHRISTIAN  PAINTING. 


183 


- — the  secular  and  historical  pictures  in  the  palaces  of  the  Emperors.  The 
exploits  and  career  of  the  despot  formed  in  Bxv.antium,  as  thc\-  had  done  long 
ago  in  the  palaces  of  Oriental  and  Hellenistic  monarchs,  the  principal  subjects 


Fig-  50. 
of  wall-decoration  ;  but  we  must  be  content  now  to  know  them  onl\-  throui^h 
ancient  descriptions.  In  the  CJialkc — the  great  hall  of  pomp  of  Justinian's 
palace — were  depicted  the  \ictorics  of  his  army  in  y\frica  and  Ital)',  conciucsts  of 
cities,  and  finally  the  return  of  I'clisarius,  wlio,  at  the  head  of  the  arm\',  was 
seen  presenting  captive  kings  and  trophies  of  battle  to  the  l'jn])eioi-  ;ind 
Empress  amid  their  senators."'^ 


1 84  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

That  purely  decorative  style  which  we  have  seen  in  the  earliest  Christian 
mosaics  of  Italy,  lived  on  at  Byzantium  also  in  the  ornamentation  of  secular 
buildings.  We  still  possess  a  brilliant  example  of  this  taste,  not,  however,  in 
Byzantium  itself,  but  in  a  monument  of  Islam  :  the  mosque  Qoubet-es-Sakrah 
at  Jerusalem.  The  coloured  glass  mosaic  in  the  spandrils  of  the  arcades  belongs 
to  the  original  building,  completed  A.D.  691;  it  consists  of  conventionalised 
plant  ornaments,  vases,  and  jewels,  on  a  gold  ground  bordered  by  inscriptions 
and  geometrical  patterns  ;  the  style  is  really  classical,  and  the  techincal  execu- 
tion entirely  Byzantine.^^ 

After  the  iconoclastic  schism  in  the  eighth  century,  this  ornamental  style 
of  mosaic  began  to  be  more  elaborately  applied  in  Christian  churches.  Now 
that  men  had  banished  devotional  pictures  and  figures  of  Saints  from  the 
house  of  God,  but  did  not  like  to  leave  them  quite  without  decoration,  they 
were  habitually  adorned  with  plant  ornaments,  animals,  and  especially  with 
birds.  What  had  formerly  been  but  a  delightful  accessory  now  became  the 
principal  subject.  This  change  had,  however,  no  influence  on  the  Western 
world. 

IV. — Italy  after  Justinian. — The  mosaics  produced  in  Italy  from  the 
end  of  the  sixth  century  ought  not  to  be  called  Byzantine,  if  it  were  only  for 
the  reason  that  they  begin  to  show  signs  of  barbarism,  as  is  proved  even  by 
the  monuments  of  Ravenna  and  Rome. 

We  find  the  signs  of  such  decadence  in  the  pictures  of  Sail  Apollinare 
in  Classe,  the  great  basilica  of  the  former  seaport  of  Ravenna,  Classis,  which 
now  stands  solitary  in  the  fields.  The  nave  shows  no  indications  now  of  early 
work,  and  even  the  mosaics  of  the  choir  by  no  means  date  as  far  back  as  the 
building  of  the  church,  which  was  consecrated  a.d.  549.  The  busts  of  Matthew 
and  Luke,  and  the  freely -designed  figures  of  the  archangels  Michael  and 
Gabriel  with  banners,  on  the  piers  of  the  tribune-arch,  are  among  the  best  in 
the  building.  The  medallion  over  these  contains  a  stiff  and  unpleasant  picture 
of  Christ ;  it  is  surrounded  by  the  symbols  of  the  Evangelists,  and  a  frieze  of 
lambs  coming  out  of  the  two  cities.  On  the  semi-dome  of  the  apse,  the  hand 
of  God  appearing  over  the  cross  between  Moses  and  Elias  furnishes  a  sym- 
bolical representation  of  the  Transfiguration  ;  under  this,  in  priestly  dress,  and 
with  arms  stretched  out  in  supplication,  stands  S.  Apollinaris  as  the  central 
figure,  with  lambs  advancing  towards  him  from  either  side.  The  floor  and 
background  of  this  division  contain  indications  of  a  rocky  landscape  with  trees. 
Between  the  windows  on  the  lower  wall  we  find  the  four  Bishops  of  Ravenna, 
Ecclesius,  Severus,  Ursus,  and  Ursicinus  ;  at  the  side,  the  three  sacrifices  of  the 
Old  Covenant,  as  in  S.  Vitalis,  and  opposite  these  a  ceremonial  picture  :  Bishop 
Reparatus  (a.d.  6y2-6'jy^  receiving  a  confirmation  of  ecclesiastical  privileges 
from   the   Emperor  Constantine   \Y .  and    his  brothers    Heraclius   and  Tiberius. 


EARLY  CHRISTIAN  PAINTING.  185 

The  date  of  these  mosaics  is  established  by  this  historical  event,  and  those  in 
the  arch  appear  to  be  scarcely  more  ancient  ;  those  in  the  semi-dome  might, 
however,  have  an  earlier  origin.  The  play  of  mystical  symbolism  is  here  carried 
to  an  extreme,  and  as,  consequently,  considerations  other  than  artistic  prevai 
in  the  work,  so  its  treatment  is  dull  and  lifeless.  The  severe  training  of  the 
period  of  Justinian  is  gone,  and  the  pictures  bear  witness  to  the  decay  which 
had  fallen  upon  Ravenna  since  the  establishment  of  the  Exarchate. 

The  age  of  Justinian  had  left  no  creation  of  art  in  Rome  ;  but  the  fol- 
lowing epoch,  and  especially  the  seventh  century,  was  all  the  more  productive. 
The  intei-val  between  these  mosaics  and  those  in  SS.  Cosmas  and  Damian  is  great, 
but  the  decline  into  barbarism  was  not  yet  so  marked  at  Rome  as  that  which 
we  have  just  described  at  Ravenna,  It  is  true  that  the  independent  spirit 
of  the  earlier  time  had  disappeared  from  the  treatment,  which  is  now  poor  and 
conventional  :  for  the  lack  of  inner  life  and  significance,  amends  are  attempted  to 
be  made  by  material  splendour,  brilliancy  of  costume,  and  a  gold  groundwork, 
which  has  now  become  the  rule  here  as  well  as  in  Byzantium. 

Pope  Pelagius  II.  (a.D.  578-590)  had  erected  the  basilica  of  5^;/  Loj-enzo fuor 
le  Diura  after  the  Byzantine  conquest,  and  as  his  inscription  testifies,  under  the 
very  swords  of  the  Lombards.  The  only  part  of  the  present  building  which  dates 
from  that  time  is  the  choir,  which  w-as  formerly  the  nave,  and  had  its  apse 
to  the  west,  at  the  junction  of  the  present  nave  and  choir.  The  dedicatory 
mosaic  on  a  gold  ground  filled  the  arch  over  the  apse,  but  now,  since  the 
orientation  of  the  church  has  been  reversed,  it  decorates  the  back  of  the  same 
arch.  The  bearded  Christ,  now  no  longer  sublime  and  dignified,  but  worn  and 
emaciated,  is  seated  on  the  globe  ;  on  the  right  stand  Paul,  Stephen,  and 
Hippolytus  ;  on  the  left  Peter  and  Lawrence,  the  latter  receiving  the  model  of 
the  church  from  Pope  Pelagius,  who  is  drawn  on  a  smaller  scale  ;  lower  down 
in  the  picture  we  discern  the  towns  of  Jerusalem  and  Bethlehem.'^*"  The  com- 
position of  this  badly  preserved  and  restored  picture  is  poor,  the  figures  want 
solidity  and  power. 

The  mosaic  in  the  apse  of  the  small  circular  church  of  S.  Theodore,  at  the 
foot  of  the  Palatine,  resembles  this  last  in  style  and  composition.  Peter  and 
Paul  lead  up  two  Saints,  one  of  whom  is  the  patron  of  the  church.^'  Christ 
seated  on  the  globe  now  becomes  a  favourite  motive  ;  he  appears  in  this 
position  not  here  only  but  also  in  one  of  the  side  apses  of  S.  Constantia,  and 
holds  a  book,  while  a  beardless  figure  bows  down  before  him.  The  opposite 
niche  contains  the  youthful  beardless  Christ  standing  on  clouds  with  awkwardly 
extended  legs,  and  supported  by  Peter  and  Paul  ;  the  latter  receives  from  the 
hand  of  the  Lord  a  scroll  with  the  wcjrds  DoDiiniis  paccin  dat.  Four  lambs, 
two  palm-trees,  and  two  circular  buildings  to  indicate  the  town,  complete  the 
composition.'"*^  The  workinanship  of  these  pictures  is  rough,  and  their  motives 
ungainly  ;   the)'  have  no  date,  but  may  hehjng  to  about  .\.l).  600. 

2  1; 


i86 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


The  picture  in  the  apse  of  S.  Agnes,  outside  the  Porta  Pia  (built  by 
Honorius  I.  A.D.  625-638),  shows  more  correctness  of  treatment,  but  without 
more  invention.  Pope  Honorius,  the  founder,  and  another  Pope,  perhaps  Sym- 
machus,  stand  at  each  side  of  S.  Agnes,  at  whose  feet  hes  the  sword  with 
which  she  was  slain,  as  a  symbol  of  her  martyrdom,  while  the  flames  which 
could  not  hurt  her  play  around  them.^^  The  figures,  though  stiff  and  slender, 
at  least  stand  upright  ;  the  features  of  the  saint  are  regular,  but  lifeless  and 
weak  in  modelling  ;  but  the  decorative  effect  of  the  whole  is  fine,  owing  to  the 
careful   treatment  of  state  costumes,  the  rich  colouring,  and  the  gold  ground. 


Fig.  51- 

The  deliberate  purpose  with  which  these  elements  were  worked  up  is  shown  by 
the  pompous  inscription  under  the  picture  (Fig.  51). 

Henceforth,  the  superficial  and  unequal  character  of  mosaic  workmanship 
increases  quickly,  as  we  see  in  the  Oratory  of  S.  Venantius  adjacent  to  the 
Baptistery  of  the  Lateran,  built  under  Popes  John  IV.  and  Theodore  (A.D. 
640-649).''*'  In  the  apse,  between  two  angels  and  beneath  a  half- figure  of 
the  Saviour  in  the  act  of  blessing,  appears  the  Madonna  (whose  worship  takes 
continually  a  greater  place)  as  Orans,  surrounded  by  six  saints  and  two  doves  ; 
the  arch  contains  two  figures  of  saints,  and  over  them  are  the  two  towns 
and  the  symbols  of  the  Evangelists.  Smaller  and  still  poorer  remains  will 
be  found  in  Saji  Stefauo  rotojtdo,^^ —  a  cross  enriched  with  precious  stones, 
and  above  it  the  bust  of  Christ,  as  well  as  a  symbolical  representation  of 
the    crucifixion    between    SS.    Primus    and   Felicianus,    placed   here    by    Pope 


EARLY  CHRISTIAN  PAINTING.  187 

Theodore,  to  whose  time  it  must  therefore  belong.  Then  in  5.  Petrus  ad 
Vincula  we  find  a  bearded  figure  of  S.  Sebastian  in  rich  court  costume,  which 
is  not  without  dignity,  but  the  workmanship  is  barbaric  ;  this  belongs  prob- 
ably to  the  time  of  Pope  Agathon  (a.d.  6'j%-6Z2)}-  Of  the  mosaics  in  a 
magnificent  oratory  of  the  mother  of  God  in  S.  Peter's,  built  by  Pope  John 
VI.  (a.d.  705-707),  and  by  him  enriched  with  pictures  from  the  lives  of  Mary, 
Christ,  and  S.  Peter — of  these  all  that  remains  is  a  fragment  of  the  Adoration 
of  the  Magi  in  the  sacristy  of  Santa  Maria  in  Cosuiedin  ;  it  is  less  formal  than 
the  example  last  mentioned,  but  indifferently  executed.'*^ 


CHAPTER   III. 

MINIATURES. 

Meaning  of  the  word  miniature — Antiquity  and  prevalence  of  this  mode  of  decorating  MSS. — Religious  MSS. 
in  particular — Uniform  choice  of  subjects  for  pictures — Dedicatory  pictures — Ornament ;  borders  of 
the  Eusebian  canons — Technical  process  and  mode  of  production — Early  examples  of  Greek  workman- 
ship— The  Vienna  Genesis — The  Vienna  Dioskorides — Examples  of  Western  workmanship — Examples 
of  Syrian  Workmanship — Introduction  of  the  subject  of  the  Crucifixion — Iconoclastic  schism — Con- 
sequent separation  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  churches,  and  close  of  the  classical  period  of  Early 
Christian  art. 

By  "miniatures"  are  meant  the  pictures  executed  in  manuscripts  by  the  illumi- 
nator or  viiniator,  so-called  from  the  name  of  the  pigment  minhan  (cinnabar), 
for  even  in  a  manuscript  where  there  was  no  richer  ornament  it  was  usual  at 
least  to  paint  the  divisions  of  the  text  and  the  initial  letters  red.  These  rubrics, 
so-called  from  riibruvi  (red),  are  the  first  steps  in  the  art  of  illumination. 

The  custom  of  ornamenting  manuscripts  with  pictures  dates  back,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  from  antiquity.  It  was  practised  in  Italy,  but  to  a  much 
greater  extent  in  Byzantium,  where  it  was  encouraged  as  a  luxury  by  the 
splendour-loving  inhabitants  of  New  Rome.  Constantine  had  already  founded 
a  public  library,  which  was  increased  by  his  descendants,  and  restored  by  the 
Emperor  Zeno  {ci.  a.d.  49 1 )  after  a  fire.  Books  which  were  executed  for  people 
of  wealth  and  position  were  often  splendidly  ornamented  by  the  colouring,  often 
in  purple,  of  the  vellum,  as  well  as  by  the  use  of  colours  in  the  text,  such 
colouring  being  generally  in  red,  or  sometimes  in  gold  and  silver  to  enhance 
the  effect.      Regular  picture-illustrations  were  presently  added."** 

Such  pictures  are  found  in  religious  as  well  as  secular  works.  Botanical 
and  astronomical  writings  contain  illuminations  intended  rather  to  illustrate  the 
subject  than  merely  to  adorn  the  manuscript.  The  same  may  be  said  of 
manuscripts  of  Greek  and  Roman  poets,  as  before  mentioned,  in  which  pictures 
after  antique  models  continue  to  occur  far  on  into  the  Middle  Age  ;  con- 
spicuous examples  are  a  fragment  of  the  Iliad  in  the  Ambrosian  Library  at 
Milan,  the  writing  of  which  shows  that  it  probably  originated  in  Italy,  and  a 
Virgil  (see  above,  p.  loi)  in  the  Vatican.*^  But  by  far  the  greatest  number  of 
illuminations  of  really  artistic  value  are  to  be  found  in  books  of  religion, — books 
which  have  for  the  most  part  belonged  to  or  been  presented  to  religious 
establishments  by  persons  of  distinction. 

The   pictures   in   books  having  the  same  contents   always  exhibit  the  same 


EARLY  CHRISTIAN  PAINTING.  189 

choice  of  subjects  in  their  illustrations.  Moreover,  it  often  happens  that  the 
pictures  as  well  as  the  text  of  an  early  manuscript  are  copied  in  later  times  ;  so 
that  even  in  the  choicest  books  it  may  be  hard  to  tell  to  what  extent  the  illu- 
minations are  original,  and  to  what  extent  repeated  from  earlier  models.  Thus 
an  Evangeliariuui,  or  copy  of  the  four  Gospels,  regularly  contains  pictures  of  the 
four  Evangelists,  either  erect  with  books  in  their  hands,  or  else  seated  at  desks. 
Their  types  vary  ;  they  are  either  bearded  or  beardless,  middle-aged  or  old  ; 
S.  John  is  always  represented  as  an  old  man.  In  the  earliest  examples  they 
generally  appear  without  their  familiar  symbols.  Other  subjects  also  appear 
illustrating  the  conceptions  of  religion  in  the  manner  wc  have  called  exhibi- 
tive,  apart  from  story  or  action  ;  among  them  sometimes  a  Majestas  Dei,  or 
picture  of  Christ  enthroned,  surrounded  usually  with  the  elliptical  glory,  which 
from  its  shape  the  Italians  call  mandorla  (almond),  and  holding  the  book  of 
life,  while  he  uplifts  his  right  hand  in  the  gesture  which  used  to  be  taken  as 
that  of  blessing,  but  is  really  that  of  teaching  or  expounding.  While  a  repre- 
sentation of  this  kind  always  preserves  the  tranquil  solemnity  which  we  have 
seen  in  the  mosaics,  the  narrative  pictures  from  Bible  history  are  carried  to  a 
point  of  much  greater  freedom.  Here  the  artist's  attempt  to  represent  real  actions, 
and  the  attempt,  especiall}'  in  the  earlier  times,  is  quite  successful.  The  Old 
Testament  too  is  not  treated  here  merely  as  a  type  of  the  New,  but  independ- 
ently. A  great  variety  of  such  pictures  appears  in  manuscripts  of  separate 
books  of  Scripture,  in  theological  writings.  Psalters,  and  Prayer-books.  And 
the  personages  of  religious  tradition  are  in  many  cases  associated  with  per- 
sonifications of  places,  of  the  affections  of  the  mind,  of  abstract  ideas,  which 
are  inheritances  from  antique  modes  of  thought,  and  maintain  themselves  down 
to  a  later  period. 

Dedicatory  pictures  constitute  a  class  by  themselves  in  manuscript  illustra- 
tion. In  religious  as  well  as  .secular  books  executed  for  some  great  personage, 
especially  one  of  the  reigning  family,  the  owner  of  the  book  often  appears 
solemnly  enthroned  and  surrounded  by  real  or  allegorical  figures.  These 
subjects  also  are  treated  with  reference  to  antique  models. 

In  connection  with  figure  designs  in  manuscripts  must  be  considered 
also  their  decorative  patterns.  The  borders  of  the  large  single  pictures  are  at 
first  somewhat  simple;  but  the  "canons"  or  tables  of  parallel  passages,  habituall}' 
placed  before  the  text  in  Gospel-books,  are  ornamented  with  peculiar  richness 
and  always  with  the  same  design,  which  appears  in  l^y/.antine  as  well  as  Western 
manuscrij)ts,  and  is  found  as  early  as  the  sixth  century.'"'  Each  table  is 
enclo.sed  by  an  arch  carried  on  richly  coloured  and  gilded  columns,  and  abox'e 
the  enclosing  arches  or  ijcdiments  are  binls  or  other  animals  symmctricall}' 
facing  each  other,  and  general!)-  arranged  on  cither  side  of  a  vessel  or  fountain 
from  which  they  make  as  if  about  to  drink.  It  is  not  necessary  to  look  for  a 
symbolical  meaning  in   this  device,  as,  besides   peacocks  and  doves,  there  often 


I90  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

appear  cocks, partridges,  and  other  creatures,  treated  with  considerable  realism, and 
showing  a  pleasure  in  the  contemplation  of  animal  life.  Human  figures,  whether 
of  a  religious  or  an  every-day  character,  sometimes  replace  the  customary  pair 
of  animals.  This  system  of  ornament  is  directly  copied  from  the  real  decora- 
tions of  the  inner  walls  of  buildings.  The  earliest  still  existing  model  for  them 
is  found  in  the  plaster-work  between  the  windows  of  the  Catholic  Baptistery  at 
Ravenna,  where  we  sec  in  like  manner  over  the  pediments  symmetrically  placed 
birds  on  each  side  of  a  basin,  also  quadrupeds  and  human  figures.  Neither  in 
the  Early  Christian  manuscripts  of  Italy  nor  in  those  of  Byzantium  do  we  find 
any  other  system  of  ornament  except  the  architectural  designs  above  described. 
Here  are  none  of  those  border-patterns  in  beautiful  penmanship,  nor  those  rich 
initial  letters,  which  we  shall  find  later  in  the  manuscripts  of  the  Middle  Age. 
The  initials  here  are  painted  slightly  larger  than  the  text,  but  are  quite 
simple  and  without  ornament. 

The  technical  method  consists  of  painting  in  body-colour  on  vellum,  the 
vellum  being  occasionally  covered  with  a  thin  plaster  preparation  on  which  the 
o-old  is  laid.  The  outlines  are  drawn  in  with  the  brush,  and  the  first  sketch  of 
the  design,  which  can  be  discerned  in  injured  examples,  entirely  disappears  under 
the  broad  and  thick  ii)ipasto  of  the  colouring,  the  general  tone  of  which  is  light, 
often  breaking  almost  into  white  ;  fine  gradations  of  tone  are  rendered  in  the 
flesh  parts,  and  the  high  lights  are  laid  vigorously  on.  These  productions  are 
very  unequal,  and  in  the  longer  manuscripts  several  hands  of  varying  capacity 
may  almost  always  be  recognised.  On  the  whole,  the  illumination  of  manu- 
scripts was  in  this  period  somewhat  mechanically  carried  on,  latterly  principally 
by  priests  and  monks,  but  in  Byzantium  also  in  the  workshops  of  lay  book- 
sellers and  scribes.  The  names  of  the  painters  do  not  usually  appear  on  the 
pictures. 

The  oldest  specimen  of  artistic  importance  is  of  Greek  origin — a  fragment 
of  the  book  of  Genesis,  of  about  the  end  of  the  fifth  century,  now  in  the  Imperial 
Library  at  Vienna.^"  It  contains  twenty-four  leaves  illuminated  on  both  sides,  in 
most  cases  with  pictures  arranged  in  two  rows  on  purple  vellum.  The  execution 
is  slight,  almost  superficial,  but  yet  shows  certainty  of  touch.  We  still  find 
here  a  close  observation  of  the  life  of  men  and  animals  ;  the  figures  show  con- 
siderable power  of  bodily  expression  and  movement  ;  they  are  of  sturdy  build 
(for  slenderness  of  proportion  is  not,  as  often  supposed,  the  sign  of  Byzantine 
as  distinguished  from  Western  art,  but  rather  of  a  later  period  as  opposed  to 
earlier).  In  the  scenes  from  the  story  of  Adam  and  Eve,  even  the  nude  is 
still  successfully  treated,  without  much  refinement  of  execution.  The  indica- 
tions of  the  landscape,  the  trees  for  instance,  still  show  some  feeling  for  nature, 
particularly  in  the  first  pages  ;  architecture,  furniture,  and  costume,  are  antique, 
only  that  shoes  are  worn,  and  in  the  case  of  Potiphar's  wife  the  dress  is  a  rich 
court  costume  with  sleeves,  gold  trimmings,  purple  mantle,  and  a  lofty  diadem. 


N 

til 


192  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

The  stately  female  figure  which  stands  beside  her  in  the  scenes  in  which  she 
accuses  Joseph  to  her  husband  and  shows  the  torn  cloak  as  evidence  (Fig.  5  2), 
is  evidently  an  allegorical  figure — one  of  those  personifications  in  the  antique 
spirit,  which  for  the  rest  are  common  enough.  Thus  wc  see  the  Nymph  of  the 
Well  reclining  beside  Rebecca  ;  and  the  figure  of  Metaiioia  (Repentance)  of 
somewhat  more  than  human  stature,  accompanying  Adam  and  Eve  on  their 
expulsion  from  Paradise.  This  group  is  particularly  expressive  ;  Eve  hangs 
her  head  in  shame,  while  Adam  turns  to  look  back.  The  conception  of  Esau 
with  the  dog  sniffing  at  his  game-bag  is  remarkable  for  its  naturalism,  Joseph 
dreaming  on  his  couch  is  altogether  classically  treated.  His  escape  from  Poti- 
phar's  wife  furnishes  the  occasion  for  interesting  scenes  of  ancient  life  in  the 
women's  apartments — handmaidens  about  their  tasks,  and  children  waiting  or 
playing  with  them.  Then  follows  Pharaoh  at  table,  his  cup-bearer  handing  him 
the  wine,  the  company  reclining  round  on  an  S-shaped  triclinium,  and  opposite 
them  musicians  playing  on  cymbals  and  flutes.  The  vigorous  life  in  every  part 
of  this  picture  is  remarkable,  and  even  the  minor  figures  are  no  mere  super- 
numeraries. 

Of  superior  execution  is  a  copy  of  the  botanical  treatise  of  Dioskorides 
in  the  same  library,  the  date  of  which  can  be  fixed,  since  it  was  written  for  the 
Princess  Juliana  Anicia,  granddaughter  of  Valentine  III.  and  daughter  of 
Placidia  and  the  Senator  Olybrius,  who  was  Emperor  of  the  West  for  a  short 
time,  A.D,  472,  She  died  at  Constantinople  A.D.  527,  early  in  the  reign 
of  Justinian.  The  manuscript  must  therefore  date  from  the  beginning  of  the 
sixth  century.  On  the  dedicatory  picture,  which  has  unfortunately  suffered 
much,  the  Princess  sits  enthroned  between  two  allegorical  personifications  of 
Insight  and  Magnanimity ;  a  genius  representing  Desire  for  the  Wisdom  of 
the  Creator  (tto^o?  cro^/a?  KTiarov)  hands  her  a  book,  and  beside  him  kneels 
a  veiled  female  figure  doing  homage,  personifying  the  Gratitude  of  the  Arts 
{ev^apcarla  re')(yo)v).  A  plaited  border, — two  lozenges  and  a  circle,  with  per- 
sonifications of  the  Arts  in  the  intervening  spaces, — surrounds  this  picture. 
The  style  is  altogether  antique,  only  that  the  cast  of  the  draperies  is  in  some 
parts  too  poor  ;  the  colouring  stands  out  rich  and  luminous  from  the  blue 
ground,  and  is  heightened  by  a  brilliant  wax  varnish.'*^  The  five  preceding 
pages  also  contain  large  pictures  on  one  side  ;  the  first  a  peacock  spreading  its 
tail,  while  the  second  and  third  represent  six  famous  doctors  of  antiquity,  the 
first  group  seated  at  the  feet  of  their  teacher,  the  Centaur  Cheiron,  the  second 
at  the  feet  of  Galen,  and  these  groups  are  not  arranged  in  pictorial  perspective, 
but  are  balanced  in  architectural  symmetry.  In  the  fourth  picture  (Fig.  53) 
appears  the  author,  Dioskorides,  in  white  robes  on  a  chair  of  gold,  and  before 
him  stands  a  female  figure  in  golden  tunic  and  red  mantle,  the  personification 
of  the  art  of  Discovery  (evpeo-t?)  ;  she  is  presenting  the  legendary  mandrake 
root  {alrawi)  to  him,  and   between  them   the  dog  who  has   pulled  up  the  root 


EARLY  CHRISTIAN  PAINTING. 


193 


falls  dead  according  to  the  legend.  The  head  of  Dioskorides  expresses  joy  at 
the  discovery.  In  the  fifth  picture  Discovery  stands  in  a  niche  of  a  pillared 
hall  holding  the  mandrake,  while  on  one  side  a  painter  sits  at  an  easel  painting 
it,  and  on  the  other  Dioskorides  writes  down  its  description.^^  The  numerous 
large  drawings  of  plants  that  follow  in  the  text  are  not  less  valuable  ;  accuracy 
and   a    close    study  of  nature   are   here  joined  to  a   modest  but   masterly  and 


Fig.  53- 

delightful  style  of  execution.  The  snakes,  beetles,  and  birds,  towards  the  end 
of  the  book  are  equally  skilful,  but  treated  more  drily.  The  splendid  dedica- 
tory picture  suffices  to  prove  that  we  have  to  do  here  with  an  original  work, 
and  that  the  illustrations  are  not  merely  copies  of  earlier  models.  Just  as  the 
painter  has  reproduced  the  plants  directly  from  nature,  so  has  the  author  of 
the  introductory  pictures  freely  followed  his  invention  ;  tiic  treatment  through- 
out proclaims  the  hand  of  a  master.  The  illustrations  to  the  book  of  Genesis 
were  interesting  but  sketchy  ;  while  these,  on  the  other  hand,  are  carried  out 
v/ith  all  the  certainty  and  finish  of  which  the  period  was  capable.      The  coming 

2  C 


194  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

decadence  no  doubt  betrays  itself,  here  too,  by  many  marks  of  incorrectness,  but 
the  power  inherited  from  antiquity  can  still  be  felt.  The  survival  of  classical 
art  in  Early  Christian  times  is  nowhere  so  clearly  manifest  as  in  this  work. 

A  similar  style  is  found  in  the  Western  manuscripts  of  the  same  period, 
though  none  of  them  reach  the  same  degree  of  excellence  as  the  Vienna 
Dioskorides.  Some  badly  preserved  illustrations  of  the  history  of  Saul  on  a 
few  leaves  of  a  Latin  Bible  are  quite  antique  in  style  (these  are  in  the  Royal 
Library,  Berlin  ;  they  belong  to  the  sixth  century,  and  were  found  pasted  in  old 
bindings  at  Quedlinburg).  The  men  and  horses  are  well  drawn  ;  the  heroes  of  the 
Bible  appear  in  the  guise  of  Roman  generals  ;  the  execution  is  precise  and  neat. 
A  Bible  from  the  monastery  of  Montamiata,  in  the  Laurentian  Library  at  Flor- 
ence, belongs  to  the  same  period.^'^  In  the  library  of  Corpus  Christi  College, 
Cambridge,  is  a  Latin  Gospel-book  of  the  seventh  century,  evidently  also  of  Italian 
origin.  S,  Luke  is  the  only  one  of  the  Evangelists  whose  effigy  remains  in 
this  work  ;  he  is  represented  sitting  within  an  architectural  frame  of  charming 
design,  in  a  thoughtful  attitude  of  good  effect.  In  spite  of  such  dignity  of 
motive  as  we  see  in  the  uplifted  right  arm,  we  already  perceive  here  the  crude 
ascetic  character  which  belongs  to  the  mosaics  of  this  date.  In  the  pediment  of 
the  border  reclines  the  bull,  the  symbol  of  S.  Luke  ;  the  side-borders  contain 
small  Scripture  scenes  between  two  columns.  All  that  exists  of  the  book  besides 
these  is  a  page  with  small  scenes  from  the  Passion  of  Christ.^^ 

We  find  the  same  richness  of  architectural  border,  and  also  the  tendency  to 
elaborate  narrative  representation,  in  a  Syrian  Gospel-book  in  the  Laurentian 
Library  at  Florence,  which  was  written  A.D.  586  by  the  priest  Kabala  in  the 
monastery  of  S.  John  at  Zagba  in  Mesopotamia.  This  manuscript  contains 
the  first  ascertainable  example,  and  one  of  the  most  brilliant,  of  the  illuminated 
border  afterwards  employed  throughout  the  whole  of  the  Middle  Ages  for 
enclosing  the  tables  of  canons.  In  the  side-borders  of  these  architectural  designs 
there  are  spaces  for  small  figures  and  scenes  from  the  Bible  stories,  to  which  are 
annexed  two  more  pages  of  larger  pictures  of  the  same  kind,  more  especially 
the  Crucifixion  ;  a  subject  of  which  this  is  one  of  the  first  examples. 

Early  Christian  art  had  formerly  avoided  this  subject,  and  been  content  to 
indicate  the  sacrifice  of  the  Saviour  by  symbols  instead  of  actually  representing 
the  shameful  punishment  of  death.  But  now,  as  the  practice  of  crucifixion  fell 
gradually  into  disuse,  and  at  the  same  time  the  classical  sentiment  grew  feebler 
among  the  Christian  races,  this  subject  also  became  one  of  the  recognised  Chris- 
tian series.^^  In  the  picture  to  which  we  refer,  Christ  appears  fastened  to  the 
cross  by  four  nails,  the  arms  in  a  horizontal  position,  so  that  his  body  is  not 
really  hanging.  Neither  is  it  naked,  but  attired,  according  to  a  conception 
which  prevailed  for  some  time  thereafter,  in  a  long  purple  robe.  On  either 
hand  we  see  the  crucified  malefactors,  and  below,  S.  John,  the  Maries,  the 
officer  holding  up  the  sponge,  and  the  soldiers  casting  lots  for  Christ's  raiment. 


EARLY  CHRISTIAN  PAINTING.  195 

A  separate  compartment  lower  down  contains  the  Resurrection,  the  Maries  at 
the  tomb,  and  the  Saviour  appearing  to  the  women.  On  the  other  side  of  the 
page  follows  the  Ascension.  These  pictures  show  a  certain  originality  and 
imagination  in  the  motiv^es,  but  the  execution  of  the  figures  has  become 
rougher,  the  drawing  more  sketchy,  the  colouring  is  unequal  and  often  very 
crude,  with  uncertainty  and  coarseness  in  the  outlines.^^  It  is  not  surprising 
that  works  executed  in  outlying  provinces  should  be  wanting  in  the  purity 
and  finish  which  held  out  longer  in  the  chief  centres  of  antique  culture,  and 
more  especially  at  the  imperial  court  at  Byzantium. 

Even  here,  however,  the  classical  period  of  Early  Christian  art  soon  came  to 
a  sudden  close.  Its  occasion  was  the  outbreak  of  the  iconoclastic  schism  in  the 
beginning  of  the  eighth  century.  The  earliest  Christians,  strong  in  the  conscious- 
ness of  worshipping  God  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  did  not  fear  the  influence  of  pagan 
idolatry  ;  but  since  the  definitive  triumph  of  the  new  faith,  the  pagan  elements 
within  the  pale  of  Christianity  itself  had  found  a  continually  increasing  field  of 
action  ;  and  when  the  nations  of  Islam,  who  confronted  the  Christian  world  from 
the  seventh  century,  flung  the  reproach  of  idolatry  against  their  enemies,  that 
reproach  was  not  without  real  justification.  Images  had  been  introduced  into 
churches  first  for  ornament,  teaching,  and  edification  ;  but  image-worship  soon 
crept  in  unawares.  The  reverence  for  the  divine  and  spiritual  being  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  image,  which  was  honoured  with  incense  and  obeisance.  Then 
there  were  certain  images  accredited  with  a  mysterious  origin,  as  the  picture  of 
Christ  at  Odessa  ;  the  legend  concerning  which  was  that  Christ  had  left  the 
impress  of  his  features  on  a  canvas  and  sent  it  to  Abgarus,  king  of  Odessa. 
Even  before  the  end  of  the  sixth  century,  pictures  "  not  made  with  hands  " 
(d-X^eipo'jroirjTot)  appeared  in  many  places,  and  even  increased  and  multiplied 
in  a  miraculous  manner.  These  were  soon  rivalled  in  sanctity  by  the  supposed 
portraits  of  the  Madonna  by  the  hand  of  S.  Luke,  whom  tradition  had  as 
early  as  the  sixth  century  represented  as  a  painter.  This  superstition  had 
gradually  taken  root,  and  by  degrees  grew  to  such  a  height  that  the  more 
earnest  spirits  became  alarmed.  The  gibes  of  the  Mohammedans,  into 
whose  hands  fell  the  sacred  images  in  the  towns  of  tiic  Holy  Land,  were  not 
without  effect.  The  Emperor  Leo  III.,  the  Isaurian,  an  unlettered  warrior  who 
had  raised  himself  from  a  humble  station  to  the  throne,  published  an  edict 
against  image-worship,  A.D.  726.  His  first  steps  were  taken  with  moderation, 
and  only  with  a  view  of  removing  a  stumbling-block.  But  the  movement  once 
begun,  he  and  his  descendants  had  to  accept  the  full  consequences  of  their 
convictions.  Opinions  were  divided  among  the  educated  classes.  The  enemies  of 
images  liatl  tiic  people  against  them.  Supported,  however,  by  the  power  of  the 
Empire,  they  carried  their  point  in  the  ICast.  Armed  bands  destroyed  the  sacred 
pictures  in  the  ciuuches  of  Constantinople  as  well  as  in  those  of  the  provinces. 
Painters,  like  the  inijiik   Lazarus,  were  thrown   into  prison   and  maltreated.      It 


ig6  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

was  not  that  art  itself  was  to  be  suppressed  ;  we  have  seen  in  what  forms  mosaic 
decoration  was  permitted  in  holy  places.  But  yet  this  crisis  was  pregnant  with 
consequences  for  the  future  of  painting  in  Byzantium,  which  was  henceforth  to 
be  deprived  of  the  subjects  on  which  it  had  been  chiefly  employed  for  centuries. 

In  Italy,  however,  the  views  of  the  iconoclasts  could  not  prevail.  Pope 
Gregory  II.  directly  opposed  the  commands  of  the  Emperor,  to  whom  he  denied 
any  authority  in  matters  of  religion.  In  doing  this  he  had  the  people  of  Italy  as 
well  as  the  Western  clergy  on  his  side.  Thus  the  schism  concerning  images, 
which  appears  at  first  sight  a  purely  theological  question,  became  the  occasion 
for  the  separation  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  Churches,  for  the  foundation  of  the 
temporal  power  of  the  Papacy,  for  the  disruption  of  Italy  from  the  main  body  of 
the  Empire,  and  lastly,  for  the  erection  of  a  new  Empire  in  the  West.  From  this 
time  too  Byzantine  and  Western  art  took  two  different  roads.  Barbarism  had 
made  earlier  and  deeper  inroads  into  the  arts  of  the  West  than  into  those  of  the 
East,  but  they  maintained  themselves  notwithstanding  ;  and  the  Church  of  Rome, 
in  continually  extending  the  conquests  of  Christianity,  opened  out  at  the  same 
time  continually  new  conquests  for  art. 

With  the  iconoclastic  schism,  then,  the  classical  period  of  Early  Christian 
art  may  be  considered  to  have  closed.  Our  study  has  now  brought  us  to  the 
threshold  of  the  Middle  Age. 


APPENDIX, 


♦•« — - 


1.  For  the  art  of  the  catacombs  consult  Bosio,  Roma  sotterranea,  1634;  Bulletiitto  di  archeologia 
cristiana,  Rome,  1863  foil.;  Rossi,  G.  B,  de',  Roma  sotterranea  cristiana,  3  vols,  Rome,  1864-1877; 
Northcote,  J.  S.,  and  Brownlow,  W.  R.,  Roma  sotterranea,  London,  1869,  new  ed.  ;  Perret,  L.,  Cata- 
combes  de  Rome,  6  vols.,  Paris,  1 851 -1855  (with  beautifully  executed  but  not  quite  trustworthy  illustra- 
tions). And  for  the  subject  of  this  as  well  as  of  the  next  following  chapters — Schnaase,  Gesch.  der  hild. 
Kiinste,  2d  ed.,  6  vols.,  Diisseldorf,  1869  fol.  ;  Kugler,  Hattdbiich  der  Geschichte  der  J\/alerei  (English 
transl.  edited  by  Sir  Charles  Eastlake,  4th  ed.,  revised  by  Lady  Eastlake,  London,  1874)  ;  [Hemans,  C.  L, 
A  History  of  Ancient  Chi-istianity  and  Sacred  Art  in  Italy,  London,  1866]  ;  Seroux  d'Agincourt,  Histoirede 
r Art  par  les  monuments,  6  vols.,  Paris,  181 1-1823  ;  Garrucci,  Raffaelle,  Storia  dcW  arte  cristiatia  nei priini 
otto  secoli  della  chiesa,  4  vols.,  Prato,   1874  ;   the  catacombs  in  vol.  ii.  (uncritical  but  copiously  illustrated). 

2.  For  the  catacombs  at  Naples  see  Schultze,  V.,  Die  Katacomben  von  S.  Gennaro  dei  Poveri  in  Neapel, 
Jena,  1877.  For  those  at  Alexandria,  Wescher,  C,  in  the  Bullettino  di  archeologia  cristiana,  1865  ;  with 
remarks  by  Rossi. 

3.  Another  view  of  the  meaning  of  these  pictures  is  that  they  refer  to  the  Orphic  mysteries,  and 
spring  from  the  same  vein  of  thought  which  produced  the  pseudo-Orphic  poems  with  their  anticipations  of 
Christianity.      See  F.  W.  linger  in  Ersch  and  Gruber's  E7tcyclopa:dia,  ist  series,  xxxiv.  382. 

4.  See  Stephani,  Nimbus  tiftd  Strahlenkranz,  St.  Petersburg,  1859. 

5.  See  Perret,  op.  cit.,  PI.  21-33  ;  ^'^^  Garrucci,  Vetri  ornati  di  figure  in  oro  trovati  nei  cimita'i  de'  cris- 
tiani primitivi  di  Roma. 

6.  This  is  the  opinion  of  Schnaase,  Gesch.  der  bild.  Kiinste,  2d  ed.  iii.  102. 

7.  For  the  history  of  mosaics  in  general  see  Labarte,  J.,  Histoire  des  arts  industriels,  etc.,  vol.  iv., 
Paris,  1866;  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle,  I/ist.  of  Italian  Fainting,  vol.  i. ;  Burckhardt,  Der  Cicerone,  4th 
ed.  ;  Ciampini,  J.,  Vetei-a  tnonumenta,  in  quibtis  prcrcipue  musiva  opera  illustrantur,  Rome,  1690-99. 
For  Rome  in  particular,  the  Liber  Pontificalis  of  the  librarian  Anastasius,  in  Muratori,  Script,  rer.  Ital. 
iii.;  Gregorovius,  Gesch.  der  Stadt  Rom  im  Mittelalter,  3d  ed.,  vols.  i.  and  ii.  ;  Platner,  Bunsen,  etc., 
Beschreibung  der  Stadt  Rom,  1 830- 1 842  ;  Rossi,  G.  B.  de',  ilZ/^w/a  fm/'/rt«/ (chromolithographic  illustra- 
tions in  course  of  publication) ;  (jutensohn  und  Knapp,  Denkmdlcr  der  christl.  Religion,  Rome,  1822  (outline 
drawings)  ;  Garrucci,  vol.  iv.  ;  Barbet  de  Jouy,  Les  mosdi(jues  chritiennes  des  basiliques  et  des  eglises  de  Rome, 
Paris,   1862,  and  review  of  the  same  liy  Vitet,  m  fournal  des  Savants,  1862,   1S63. 

8.  See  Hlibsch,  Die  altchristlichen  Kirchen,  Karlsruhe,  1863,  PI.  26. 

9.  See  the  illustration,  after  an  old  copy,  in  Garrucci,  PI.  204. 

10.  Nilus,  Ep.  iv.  61  ;  Gregory,  Ep.   no,  vii.  ind.  2. 

11.  See  Lefort  in  Rev.  archivl.,  1874,  Feb.  p.  96;  chromolithograph  in  Labarte,  PI.  121;  the 
restored  parts  indicated  in  Garrucci,  PI.  208. 

12.  See  Piper,  Mythologie  der  christl.  Kunst,  i.  117,  and  §15  generally. 

13.  Libanius,  De  professoribus  ;  quoted  by  Emcric-David,  Ilistoire  de  la  peinture  an  moyen  6ge,  Paris, 
1842,  p.  14. 

14.  See  Richter,  J.  P.,  Die  Mosaiken  von  Ravenna,  Vienna,  1878,  c.  iv. 

15.  Figured  in  Seroux  d'Agincourt,  PI.  14,  15,  Valentini,  A.,  La  patriarc.  basilica  Liberiana,  Rome, 
1839;  Garrucci,  PI.  211-222. 

16.  .See  Gutensohn  and  Knajip,  PI.  41  ;  Forster,  E.,  Denkmale  ital.  Malerei,  i.,  PI.  10  ;  Garrucci, 
237  ;  the  figure  in  Ciampini  (PI.  68)  shows  that  in  his  time  large  portions  of  the  work  were  wanting. 

17.  Garrucci,  PI.  238.  18.   Lbid.  PI.  253.  19.   Ibid.  PI.  234. 


198  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

20.  Chronicle  oj  the  Bishops  of  Naples,  cited  from  Muratoii  by  Schulz,  A.  W.,  Denkmdler  der  Kunst 
des  Mittelalters  in  Unteritalien,  iii.  6,  13  ;  Garrucci,  PI.  269  sq. 

21.  See  Qimst,  A.  F.  v.,  Die  altchristliche  Bauwerke  von  Ravenna,  Berlin,  1842  ;  Rahn,  R.,  in 
Jahrbiicher fiir  Kunstwissenschaft,  vol.  i.  ;  and  Richter,  J.  P.,  Die  Mosa'iken  von  Ravenna,  Vienna,  1878. 

22.  See  Koehler,  II.,  Polychrome  Mcistenverke  der  monutneutalen  Kitnst  in  /(alien  ;  Garrucci,  PI.  226- 
228. 

23.  Quast,  PI.  2-6  ;   Garrucci,  PI.  229-233.  24.    Garrucci,  PI.  241.  25.   Ibid.  PI.  242-252. 
26.    Garrucci,  PI.  222-225.          27.    Ciampini,  P'el.  Man.,  ii.  PI.   17.          28.    Garrucci,  PI.  258-264. 

29.  Figured  in  Forster,  DenkmdLr,  i.  PI.  7,  8. 

30.  Consult  Schnaase,  vol.  iii.;  and  Unger,  F.  W.,  in  Ersch  and  Gruber's  Encyclopddie,  sect.  I, 
84,  85. 

31.  Some  have  assigned  these  pictures  to  the  time  of  Constantine,  because  of  the  severe  design  of  the  build- 
ing and  the  purely  classical  style  of  the  draped  figures ;  but  the  author  considers  a  later  source  more  probable. 
The  true  pictorial  feeling  of  an  earlier  time  is  here  already  superseded  by  the  sculpturesque  style  ;  the 
architecture,  a  copy  of  a  timber  structure  with  columns,  architraves,  and  small  domes,  is,  it  is  true,  still 
classical,  but  the  details,  as  the  combination  of  Ionic  volutes  with  rude  capitals  of  trapezoidal  shape,  be- 
speak the  stvle  first  adopted  by  Byzantine  architecture  in  the  sixth  century.  This  view  is  shared  by 
Unger,  in  Ersch  and  Grither,  Ixxxiv.  407.  Chromolithograph  in  Texier  and  Pullan,  Architecture  byzantine, 
London,  1864,  PI.  30-34. 

32.  See  Ebers,  Durch  Gostu  zit»i  Sinai,  Leipzig,  1872,  p.  273. 

33.  Procopius,  De  aedificiis,  i.   10. 

34.  See  Vogiie,  Comte  M.  de,  Le  temple  de  jfernsaletn,  PI.  21,  scji/. 

35.  Theophanes  continuatiis,  in  Corp.  Script.  Hist.  Byz.  xxxiii.  p.  loo. 

36.  Garrucci,  PI.  271.  37.    Ibid.  2_-2. 

38.  Ibid.  PI.  207  ;  also  figured  in  Rev.  airheol.  1875,  where  Miintz  repeats  the  opinion  of  Crowe  and 
Cavalcaselle,  rejected,  as  the  author  thinks  with  justice,  by  Schnaase,  that  this  is  a  work  of  the  fourth  century, 

39.  Garrucci,  PI.  207  ;   the  heads  of  the  two  popes  are  restored.  40.    Ibid.  PI.  272,  273. 
41.   Ibid.  PI.  274.                                 42.    Ibid.  PL  275.                                43.   Ibid.  PL  279-2S2. 

44.  For  the  general  history  of  miniature-painting,  see  Wattenbach,  W.,  Das  Schriftivesen  in  Mittelalter, 
2d  ed.  Leipzig,  1875  ;  Seroux  d'Agincourt,  op.  cit.  vol.  v.  and  atlas;  Labarte,  Jules,  Histoire  des  arts 
indiistriels,  vol.  iii.  and  atlas;  [Denis,  F.,  Histoire  de  P ornementation  des  tiiannscrits,  Paris,  18S0]  ; 
Waagen,  in  his  various  books  of  artistic  travels  and  researches  ;  Silvestre,  Faleographie  iinive)-selle, 
Paris,  1841  ;  Westwood,  Palaeographia  sacra  pictoria,  London,  1843;  Shaw,  H.,  The  Art  of  Illumin- 
ating as  practised  ditri7tg  the  Middle  Ag-es,  etc.,  illustrated  by  Owen  Jones,  London,  1849;  Palseographical 
Society,  Facsimiles  of  A/SS.  and  Inscriptions,  edited  by  E.  A.  Bond  and  E.  M.  Thompson,  London, 
1873  and  subsequent  years  ;  and  for  Byzantine  MSS.  in  particular,  Montfaucon,  B.  de,  Palceographia 
GriBca,  Paris,   1708. 

45.  No.  3225  ;  the  Palneographical  Society  has  published  reproductions  of  the  Iliad  (PL  39,  40,  51) 
and  the  Virgil  (PL   117). 

46.  [These  "  canons"  are  the  lists  or  tables,  ten  in  number,  of  passages  which  correspond  in  all  four 
Gospels,  or  again  in  any  three  of  them,  or  again  in  any  two,  and  lastly,  of  passages  in  which  each  Gospel 
fails  to  correspond  with  any  other,  Mhich  were  drawn  up  by  Eusebius,  and  are  regularly  prefixed  to  a  MS. 
Evangeliarium  or  copy  of  the  four  Gospels.] 

47.  The  MS.  has  suffered.  Coloured  reproductions  in  Labarte,  PL  77.  Unsatisfactory  cuts  after  photo- 
graphs in  Garrucci,  PL  1 12-123.  Compare  the  somewhat  similar  designs  from  a  Bible  in  the  British 
Museum,  Garrucci,  PI.  123,   124. 

48.  Labarte,  PL  78.      Louandre,  Pes  arts  sotnptnaires,  Paris,   1857,  vol.  i.  PI.  2,  3. 

49.  On  the  interpretation  of  the  third  and  fifth  of  these  pictures,  see  Brunn  in  Ritschl's  Opuscula,  iii. 
p.   576  sqq.;  and  Jahn  in  Abhandlungen  der  S'dchsischen  Gesellsc haft  der  Wissenschaften,  v.  301  sqq. 

50.  Garrucci,  PL  126,  127.  51.   Ibid.,  PL  141  ;  Palaeographical  Society,  PL  3^'  34,  44- 

52.  See  Stockhauer,  Knnstgeschichie  des  Kreuzes,  Schaffhausen,   1870. 

53.  Labarte,  PI.  80;  Agincourt,  PL  27  ;  Garrucci,  PL  128-140. 


BOOK    II. 

M  £  D  I  .E  V  A  L     PAINTING. 


SECTION    I. 
EARLY    PERIOD  (About   a.d.  700-950).' 


CHAPTER    I. 

WESTERN  PAINTING IRISH  AND  GERMANIC  MINIATURES. 

New  style  arising  from  the  contact  of  barbaric  with  Roman  elements  —  No  early  mural  paintings  or 
mosaics  left  by  the  Celtic  or  Germanic  races — But  abundance  of  illuminated  MSS. — The  Irish  monks  ; 
their  skill  in  decorative  writing — Style  of  these  decorations — Choice  of  ornamental  forms — Human 
heads  and  figures  rudely  treated  as  mere  parts  of  a  pattern — Excellence  of  ornamental  workmanship 
notwithstanding — Examples  of  Dubhn,  Oxford,  Lichfield,  Lambeth,  Wiirzburg,  and  S.  Gallen — Style 
of  illumination  among  Franks,  Visigoths,  and  Burgundians — Occasional  combination  of  Irish  with 
other  styles — Combination  of  Irish  ornament  and  Early  Christian  figure-drawing  in  Anglo-Saxon  style. 

Christian  painting,  so  far  as  we  have  as  yet  followed  it,  has  been  but  an  echo  of 
antique  art,  and  its  practice  has  lain  exclusively  in  the  hands  of  those  nations 
who  had  raised  and  sustained  the  edifice  of  classical  culture.  Meanwhile  new 
barbaric  races  had  entered  upon  the  stage  of  the  world's  history,  and  wherever 
they  came  into  contact  with  the  antique  culture  upon  the  soil  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  had  adapted  the  arts  of  Rome  to  their  use,  holding  fast  at  the  same 
time  to  their  own  hereditary  modes  of  expression  and  technical  processes.  The 
instincts  of  these  nations  assert  themselves  in  painting  as  well  as  in  the  other 
arts,  and  at  first  in  a  form  altogether  original  and  opposed  to  the  style  of  Early 
Christian  work  in  Italy  and  Greece.  But  presently  the  two  styles  come  into 
contact,  and  from  the  union  of  barbaric  and  classical  elements  there  gradually 
arises  a  new  style,  the  true  style  of  the  Middle  Age. 

Roman  art  and  culture  had  extended  their  sway  to  the  western  and  northern 
provinces  of  Gaul,  Spain,  Germany,  and  Britain.  From  Rome  those  races  had 
in  due  course  also  received  their  Christianity,  and  among  them  art  employed,  in 
the  service  of  the  new  faith,  forms  transmitted  by  classical  tradition  and  types 
consecrated  in  the  Early  Christian  art  of  Italy.  The  new  religion  required 
stately  churches  enriched  with  splendid  ornament.  The  Courts  of  the  bar- 
barian kings  adopted  the  luxury  of  Rome,  which  soon  pervaded  their  ways  of 
life,  their  dress,  the  furniture  of  their  dwellings  and  halls  of  festival.  Painting 
was  called  in  to  decorate  churches  and  palaces  alike  with  pictures  of  sacred  and 
profane  history.  But  of  such  Early  Christian  works  in  these  countries  nothing 
remains  ;  although  many  accounts  of  them  are  to  be  foimd  in  historical  writings, 
and  although  there  is  no  doubt  of  tiie  fact  that  over  all  that  part  of  the 
world,  and  more  especially  in  the  kingdom  of  the  Merovingian  Franks,  in  Gaul, 
and  in  the  Riiineland,  mural  painting  and  mosaic  were  commonly  practised. 

Illuminated  manuscripts,  on  the  other  hand,  constitute  a  branch  of  artistic 

2   I) 


202  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

activity  in  which  the  native  taste  and  instincts  of  the  Celtic  and  Germanic  races 
come  out  in  complete  originality.  Our  examples  go  back  as  far  as  the  seventh 
century,  and  belong  in  part  to  various  Germanic  races,  but  in  still  greater  part 
to  the  Irish,  in  whose  hands  this  native  tendency  received  its  most  characteristic 
expression. 

Ireland,  the  island  seat  of  a  Celtic  population,  had  been  converted  to  Chris- 
tianity since  A.D.  430,  but  was  never  occupied  by  the  Romans,  and  escaping 
the  cataclysms  of  national  migrations,  enjoyed  a  peaceful  development  of  the 
Christian  life.  Here  arose  a  spiritual  temper  determined  by  the  principles  of 
asceticism  and  monasticism,  with  severity  of  discipline  and  profundity  of  theo- 
logical learning,  which  v/as  afterwards  communicated  to  other  lands — to  England, 
Scotland,  and  the  Continent — by  wandering  monks  from  Ireland.  One  conse- 
quence of  this  condition  of  things  was  a  zealous  cultivation  of  the  penman's  art." 
The  Irish  monks  wrote  with  uncommon  skill,  and  with  a  turn  for  artistic  cali- 
graphy  which  contrasts  strongly  with  the  Continental  writings  of  the  period. 
Painting  in  their  books  is  essentially  a  development  of  decorative  writing, — of  the 
designs  of  initial  letters,  which  were  often  very  large,  or  the  ornamental  filling- 
in  of  spaces  on  the  page.  The  intimate  connection  of  these  paintings  with  the 
writing  itself  makes  it  seem  probable  that  as  a  rule  the  illuminator  and  writer 
were  the  same  person  ;  there  is,  however,  a  Gospel-book  in  the  Cathedral 
Library  at  Trieste,  bearing  the  inscription  Thomas  Scribsit  on  the  paintings. 

The  style  of  these  decorations  is  chiefly  geometrical  ;  linear  patterns  like 
those  of  plaited,  woven,  or  embroidered  work,  being  combined  with  the  circular 
forms  appropriate  to  work  in  metal.  This  style  is  common  to  various  nations 
in  their  primitive  stage,  to  the  Indo-Germanic  nations  particularly.  It  appears 
in  what  have  been  supposed  to  be  the  earliest  painted  vases  of  the  Greeks  before 
they  felt  the  influence  of  the  races  of  Western  Asia,  and  it  maintained  itself  for 
more  than  a  thousand  years  longer  in  the  bronze  and  iron  manufactures  of 
northern  Europe.^  Such  similarity  of  form  is  the  more  readily  explained,  inas- 
much as  bronze  work  was  also  carried  on  in  Irish  monasteries  ;  often  indeed  the 
two  arts  were  practised  by  the  same  hand,  as  in  the  case  of  Dagaeus  {(i.  A.D. 
586),  who  is  mentioned  in  a  Cashel  Calendar  at  once  as  a  scribe  and  as  a  worker 
in  bronze  and  iron.  The  same  style  was  transferred  to  the  decoration  of  floors, 
walls,  and  barbaric  costumes  ;  its  last  and  most  refined  phase  occurs  in  the 
illuminations  of  French  manuscripts. 

The  elements  of  artistic  ornament  in  manuscripts  are  first  those  borrowed 
from  textile  art,  as  plaits,  bows,  zigzags,  knots,  geometrical  figures  in  various 
and  symmetrically  developed  combinations,  crosses,  chequers,  and  lattice-work  ; 
next,  those  taken  from  metal-work,  as  spirals,  and  nail-heads  let  into  borders  ; 
thirdly,  the  simpler  kind  of  animal  forms,  as  bodies  of  snakes,  birds'  heads  on 
long  necks,  lizards,  dogs,  dragons,  and  the  like,  in  which  the  geometrical  and 
ribbon  patterns  continually  terminate.      In  the  same  way  animal  forms  accom- 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— EARLY  PERIOD.  203 

modated  to  the  linear  scheme,  and  reproduced  in  the  shape  of  simple  patterns, 
occur  on  the  ancient  Greek  vases  already  referred  to.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Irish  manuscripts  show  no  sign  of  the  foliage-work  which  formed  the  origin  of 
the  principal  motives  in  the  classical  style  of  ornament. 

Lastly,  as  a  fourth  element,  comes  in  the  attempt  to  represent  the  human 
figure.  But  the  knowledge  of  the  human  body,  which  descended  to  the  heirs  of 
antique  culture,  and  survived  traditionally  far  on  into  the  decadence — this  know- 
ledge was  absent  among  the  barbaric  races.  They  treated  body  and  head  alike 
merely  as  part  of  a  pattern,  in  a  manner  altogether  arbitrary,  and  without 
observation  or  comprehension  of  tiie  natural  forms,  or  the  capacity  for  truly 
copying  them.  Figures  are  symmetrically  made  up  of  bows  and  knots.  Faces, 
taken  always  in  full  front,  are  mere  patterns.  Nose  and  mouth  consist  of  certain 
constantly  recurring  flourishes  ;  each  eyebrow  is  drawn  in  a  continuous  stroke 
of  the  pen  with  one  side  of  the  nose,  and  close  into  the  angles  formed  by  their 
junction  are  set  the  round  and  staring  eyes.  The  mouth  consists  of  a  single 
flourish  parallel  with  the  nostrils,  and  slightly  depressed  in  the  middle.  Hair 
and  beard  are  formed  of  spirals,  often  ending  in  plaits  which  grow  out  formally 
like  horns.  The  body  consists  of  a  mass  of  intertwisted  rolls,  from  which 
emerge  conventional  arms  and  feet.  The  indication  of  costume  is  limited  to  a 
capricious  arrangement  of  coloured  surfaces,  which  are  no  doubt  intended  to 
represent  a  tunic  and  cloak,  but  are  scarcely  to  be  recognised  as  such,  for  one 
part  of  the  same  garment  often  exhibits  different  colours,  for  the  sake  of  a 
decorative  counterchange.  In  the  same  way  single  parts  of  the  body  are  painted 
in  colours  contrary  to  nature  :  arms,  legs,  and  hair  are  red  or  blue.  Animals, 
such  as  the  symbols  of  the  Evangelists,  are  treated  in  like  manner  ;  thus  the  body 
of  S.  Mark's  lion  in  the  Gospel-book  of  S.  Columban  is  patterned  in  red  and 
green  lozenges  like  a  harlequin's  jacket.  The  face  and  hands  are  always  left 
uncoloured  ;  there  is  nowhere  any  trace  of  modelling  ;  the  figures,  too,  are  left 
flat.  This  style  comprises  not  only  single  figures,  like  those  of  the  Evangelists 
(Fig.  54),  but  also  larger  designs,  such  as  the  Madonna  and  Child  surrounded 
by  angels,  David  slaying  Goliath,  and  the  Crucifixion.  In  seventh -century 
examples  the  figures  are  quite  rough,  flat,  and  childish,  but  their  drawing  is 
not  yet  so  mere  a  freak  of  ornamental  penmanship  as  it  becomes  in  the  manu- 
scripts of  the  eighth  century,  when  the  system  of  actual  flourishes  and  knots 
which  we  have  just  described  appears  for  the  first  time.  The  figure  pieces  are 
in  every  case  incorporated  into  the  general  design  b\'  means  of  a  broad  rich 
border.  They  are  drawn  with  the  pen,  and  then  coloured  in  bright  and  har- 
monious colours. 

But  though  such  figures  without  form  or  expression  may  be  repulsive,  ugly, 
and  barbaric,  the  products  of  narrow  monkish  asceticism,  still  the  technical  treat- 
ment of  these  miniatures  is  by  no  means  primitive.  So  far  as  concerns  their 
purely  ornamental  portions,  we  observe  a  true  feeling  for  surface  decoration,  with 


204 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


delicacy  and  precision  of  design,  taste,  and  even  a  pleasing  play  of  fancy.  In 
the  initial  letters,  borders,  and  full-page  decorations,  we  are  surprised  by  the 
delicate  rhythmical  flow  of  the  design,  the  judicious  balancing  and  agreeable 
distribution  of  masses,  the  relations  of  the  central  masses  to  the  broad  borders 
and  the  narrow  separating  bands.  Not  less  refined  is  the  feeling  for  colour, 
though  this  is  limited  to  the  simplest  scale  of  red,  blue,  green,  yellow,  with  the 


Fig-  54- 

ground  black  and  the  borders  white,  only  occasionally  admitting  more  broken 
tones,  such  as  violet  and  pink,  but  never  gold.  In  the  separate  compartments 
the  leading  colours  interchange  in  happy  modulation  with  that  of  the  ground. 
Everywhere  we  find  an  inexhaustible  variety  of  combinations  calculated  to 
charm  the  eye,  and  the  allusive  play  upon  human  figures  and  natural  facts  is 
only  intended  as  a  part  of  that  charm.  '  "  The  picture,"  says  Schnaase,  "  was 
only  regarded  in  the  light  of  so  much  ornamental  writing  ;  it  was  enough  if  its 
meaning  could  be   understood, — that  is    to   say,  if  the   spectator  felt  himself 


MEDL^VAL  PAINTING— EARLY  PERIOD. 


205 


reminded  of  a  sacred  personage  or  scene,  and  was  aware  that  all  this  wealth  of 
ornament  was  used  for  its  glorification." 

Two  Gospel-books  of  the  seventh  century  in  the  library  of  Trinity  College, 
Dublin,  that  of  S.  Columban  and  the  Book  of  Kells,  belong  to  the  earliest  and 
most  important  examples  of  this  style.  Among  the  masterpieces  of  the  eighth 
and  ninth  centuries,  in  which  the  system  of  drawing  figures  in  knots  and 
flourishes  is  first  carried  to  the  full  extent  that  we  have  described  above,  are 
the  similar  book  written  by  Mac  Kegol  {d.  a.d.  820)  in  the  Bodleian  at  Oxford  : 
that  of  S.  Chad  at  Lichfield  in  the  Capitular  Library,  that  of  Maeiel  Brith,  son 
of  Mac  Durnan,  in  the  Archiepiscopal  Library  at  Lambeth  Palace,  from  which 
our  illustration  (Fig.  54)  is  taken;  and  lastly,  the  Psalter  in  S.  John's  College, 
Cambridge,  with  a  large  picture  of  the  Crucifixion.  This 
art  was  also  practised  in  the  Irish  monasteries  on  the 
Continent.  S.  Kilian  brought  it  to  WiJrzburg,  where  some 
manuscripts  of  this  kind  are  still  preserved  in  the  University 
Library.  S.  Gallen  was  one  of  the  chief  centres  of  the 
school.  It  is  of  course  not  possible  to  decide  whether 
the  numerous  Irish  manuscripts  in  the  library  there  were 
chiefly  gifts  brought  from  Ireland  or  works  executed  on  the 
spot.  The  largest  and  most  magnificent  is  that  numbered 
5 1  ;  the  ornamentation  is  of  the  utmost  delicacy,  but  the 
Gospel  pictures  are  repulsive  and  monstrous,  especially 
the  larger  designs  of  the  Crucifixion  and  the  Day  of 
Judgment. 

The  illumuiated  manuscripts  of  the  Franks,  Visigoths,  /^ 
and  Burgundians,  of  the  same  period,  exhibit  a  somewhat 
different  style  ;  their  workmanship,  like  that  of  the  Irish,  is 
pure  caligraphy,  but  consists  of  an  elaborate  enrichment 
of  the  initials,  first  with  simple  penwork,  and  then  in 
water  colours  lightly  laid  on.  Here  also  the  chief  motives 
are  ribbon  plaits,  scroll-work,  and  linear  arrangements, 
which  often,  however,  develop  into  simple  leaf  patterns,  such  as  could 
hardly  be  quite  strange  to  these  nations  from  their  contact  with  antique 
art.  Sometimes  the  shape  of  the  letter  is  formed  wholly  or  in  part  of  the 
body  of  such  animal,  fish,  bird,  and  snake,  as  could  be  conveniently  adapted 
to  it.  Such  initials  are  classified  according  to  their  forms  as  ichtliyouiorphic 
(fish-shaped),  ornithoidic  (bird- shaped),  and  so  on  (Fig.  55).  Gradually  these  fan- 
tastic attempts  got  farther,  and  animal  forms  of  another  kind  are  found — strange 
monsters,  single  or  fighting  with  each  other,  human  hcad.s,  and  combinations  of 
the  forms  of  man  and  brutc.^  This  .style  lasted  anic^ig  the  Franks  till  towards 
the  end  of  the  eighth  century.  To  this  time  belongs  the  Sacraincntarium  of 
the  Abbey  of  Gellonc,  near  Toulouse,  which  contains,  besides  initials  formed  of 


J'ig-  55- 


2o6  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

fishes  or  semi-human  monsters,  coloured  drawings  of  the  Madonna,  the  Evange- 
lists with  animals'  heads,  and  a  grievously  rude  and  formless  Crucifixion.^ 

Here  and  there  on  the  Continent  the  Irish  style  appears  in  combination 
with  the  Prankish  or  the  Early  Christian,  as  in  the  Gospel-book  of  S.  Willibrod, 
the  Apostle  of  Friesland,  in  which  gold,  generally  foreign  to  the  Irish  work, 
appears  in  connection  with  tender  broken  tones  of  colour.^  In  a  manuscript  of 
the  same  class  by  a  writer  named  Thomas,  in  the  Cathedral  Library  at  Trier, 
gold  and  silver  also  appear  among  conventional  ornaments  of  an  otherwise  Irish 
character  ;  and  the  canons  have  an  architectural  bordering  after  the  Early 
Christian  model.  Early  Christian  types  appear  sometimes  even  in  the  figures, 
as  in  the  busts  of  the  Apostles  at  the  tables  of  canons. 

Irish  miniature-painting  was  directly  continued  by  the  neighbouring  race  of 
the  Anglo-Saxons,  whose  works  in  their  ornamentation  correspond  closely  to  the 
Irish,  but  in  the  figures  soon  betray  a  knowledge  of  Early  Christian  precedents. 
An  example  of  this  may  be  seen  in  the  Cuthbert-book,  or  Evangeliarium  of 
Lindisfarne,  in  the  British  Museum  :'  this  is  a  Latin  book  with  interlinear  gloss 
in  Anglo-Saxon,  written,  according  to  an  inscription  at  the  end,  by  Eadfrith  to 
the  honour  of  God,  S.  Cuthbert,  and  all  the  saints  of  the  island  of  Lindis- 
farne. The  monastery  on  this  island,  of  which  Eadfrith  was  abbot  (a.d.  698- 
721),  was  an  Irish  foundation.  The  decorations  of  the  manuscript  bear  also 
a  strongly  Irish  character,  only  that  the  tone  of  colour  is  more  delicate,  with 
a  slight  use  of  gold;  but  the  pictures  of  the  four  Evangelists  show  a  certain 
knowledge  of  Early  Christian  and  especially  of  Byzantine  models,  while  the 
inscriptions  on  these  (o  07609,  often  wrongly  spelt)  point  to  a  knowledge  of  Greek 
manuscripts.  These  figures  in  their  barbaric  clumsiness  remain  far  removed 
from  their  models,  but  at  least  they  are  no  longer  mere  flourishes, — their  author 
has  at  least  intended  to  depict  human  beings.  If  the  faces  and  bodies  are  with- 
out expression,  they  are  at  any  rate  not  altogether  symmetrical,  or  always  seen 
in  full  face  ;  they  have  real  organs  with  some  attempt  at  movement,  and  the 
undraped  parts  are  true  flesh-colour.  The  cast  of  drapery,  however  character- 
less, the  thrones  and  accessories,  show  also  the  influence  of  Early  Christian  models. 
But  the  technical  treatment  is  diflerent ;  here  is  no  careful  painting  in  body- 
colour,  but  only  an  outline  drawn  in  with  the  pen,  and  the  simplest  local  tinting  ; 
no  modelling  of  the  flesh  parts  ;  and  the  shadows  in  the  draperies  expressed  by 
difference  of  colour,  as  scarlet  on  green.  This  style  continued  to  prevail  in 
England  till  the  beginning  of  the  tenth  century. 


CHAPTER    II. 

WESTERN    PAINTING— THE   CAROLINGIAN   AGE. 

Introductory — Encouragement  of  art  by  Charles  the  Great — Lost  mosaics  and  mural  paintings — Position  of 
Charles  towards  the  question  of  images — Miniatures  ;  style  of  the  Prankish  miniature-painters  in 
his  age — The  Eva^igeliaj-imn  of  Godesscalc — Similar  books  in  Abbeville,  London,  and  Vienna — Bibles 
executed  by  order  of  Alcuin— The  style  culminates  under  Lothair  and  Charles  the  Bald — Dedicatory 
portraits  in  books  prepared  for  royal  personages — Secular  MSS.  of  this  period — Instances  in  which 
the  Prankish  manner  tends  to  assimilate  itself  to  the  Irish— MSS.  bearing  the  signature  of  the  scribe 
or  painter — Geographical  centres  of  the  art — Monastery  of  S.  Gallen — General  character  of  Prankish 
art  imder  Charles  and  his  successors — Italy;  progressive  degeneracy  of  Rome — Artistic  activity  not- 
withstanding— Lost  mosaics  of  S.  Susanna  and  the  Lateran — Mosaics  of  SS.  Nereus  and  Achilles — 
Of  S.  Praxedis — Of  Santa  Cecilia  in  Trastevere — Of  S.  Mark — Of  S.  Ambrose  at  Milan — Rudeness 
of  Italian  miniature-painting  in  this  age. 

The  traditions  of  antiquity  had  almost  entirely  died  out  in  the  kingdom  of  the 
Franks  when  Charles  the  Great  {Charlemagne)  assumed  the  reins  of  government 
(King  of  the  Franks,  A.D.  768 ;  Emperor  of  the  Romans,  A.D.  800).  But  the  personal 
will  of  that  great  ruler,  by  whose  side  worked  men  of  enlightenment  in  the  Church, 
put  an  end  to  the  progress  of  barbarism.  Classical  antiquity  was  once  more 
deliberately  apprehended  as  the  source  of  all  knowledge  and  all  power.  The 
Frankish  king  established  a  new  empire  in  Italy,  which  lay  at  his  feet.  Rome 
and  Ravenna  presented  to  the  astonished  gaze  of  the  Franks  the  splendour  of 
the  Early  Christian  monuments,  their  colonnades,  their  mosaics.  The  works  of 
classical  antiquity,  too,  became  once  more  objects  of  admiration  or  reverential 
awe.  The  desire  for  collecting  arose  ;  precious  objects,  works  of  art,  manuscripts, 
were  brought  from  Italy  ;  antique  gems,  coins,  and  vessels  in  precious  metals,  as 
well  as  Oriental  carpets,  came  into  favour  as  objects  of  luxury  and  as  gifts. 
Popular  education,  as  well  as  the  studies  of  the  learned,  which  were  based  on 
the  literature  of  antiquity,  seconded  the  revival  of  art.  As  Charles,  however, 
encouraged  native  manners  and  costume,  and  collected  the  popular  songs  of 
Germany,  .so  too  the  forms  and  elements  of  native  and  popular  taste  in  matters 
of  art  were  cultivated  in  his  time.  Architecture,  bronze-casting,  various  pro- 
cesses of  plastic  art,  painting,  and  art-industry,  were  carried  on  with  energy. 
Great  workshops  were  established  at  the  residential  city  of  Aachen  {Aix-la- 
Chapelle),  which  was  celebrated  by  poets  as  a  second  Rome  ;  they  were  put  under 
the  superintendence  of  Einhart  [Egin/iard),  a  scholar  skilled  in  the  technical  pro- 
cesses of  many  arts,  who  in  the  Royal  Academy  went  by  the  name  of  Hozaleel, 
after  the   builder  of  the  Tabernacle,   and    side   by  side  with  whom   worked  a 


2o8  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

number  of  learned  ecclesiastics,  like  Ansigisius,  the  abbot  of  Fontanelle.  The 
large  monasteries  took  their  part,  both  by  teaching  and  exertion,  in  promoting 
the  revival  of  the  arts. 

The  most  important  monuments  of  the  time  of  Charles  the  Great  have  either 
perished  or  been  robbed  of  their  glories,  like  the  Royal  Chapel  at  Aachen.  But 
up  to  the  beginning  of  the  last  century  there  still  existed  here  a  mosaic  of  Christ 
enthroned  on  the  globe  surrounded  by  angels  ;  underneath,  on  a  much  smaller 
scale,  stood  the  four-and-tvventy  Elders  casting  down  their  crowns.^  It  is  not 
certain  that  this  mosaic  dates  from  the  time  of  Charles  the  Great,  but  the  cha- 
racter of  the  design,  especially  in  the  vehement  action  of  the  figures,  agrees 
generally  with  the  character  of  the  Carolingian  miniatures. 

The  art  of  mural  painting  was  carried  on  more  actively  still,  but  of  its  pro- 
ductions in  castles,  churches,  and  monasteries,  like  Fontanelle,  Fulda,  Reichenau, 
and  S.  Gallen,  wc  know  absolutely  nothing  to-day  except  from  written  descrip- 
tions and  reports.  Thus  one  Madalulfus  of  Cambray  painted  in  Fontanelle 
under  the  abbot  Ansigisius,  and  one  Brunn  in  Fulda,  under  the  abbot  Eigil  (a.D. 
817-822).  Thus,  too,  descriptions  both  in  prose  and  verse  have  come  down  to 
us  of  the  decorations  in  the  palaces  of  Charles.  Here,  as  in  the  palace  of  Jus- 
tinian, profane  subjects  were  represented,  especially  the  exploits  of  the  sovereign  ; 
at  Aachen  there  were  the  Spanish  Wars  and  the  seven  Liberal  Arts  ;  at  Ingel- 
heim  several  great  series  of  paintings  in  the  Royal  Chapel,  as  well  as  in  one  of  the 
halls  of  the  palace.  The  former  contained,  in  a  number  of  separate  pictures,  the 
stories  of  the  Old  Testament,  matched,  in  the  relation  of  type  and  antitype, 
against  as  many  stories  of  the  New.  The  latter  exhibited  on  one  side  the 
deeds,  or  rather  according  to  the  opinion  of  the  artist  the  heathenish  misdeeds 
of  the  ancient  heroes,  Cyrus,  Minos,  Phalaris,  Romulus  and  Remus,  Hannibal, 
and  Alexander  ;  and  on  the  other  side  the  "  Acts  of  the  Fathers," — that  is,  of 
the  Emperors  Constantine  and  Theodosius,  the  Carolingian  ancestor  Charles 
Martel,  and  Pepin  ;  and  lastly,  of  Charles  the  Great  himself.^ 

Of  the  intellectual  position  taken  up  by  Charles  towards  art  we  have  a  written 
w'itness  in  the  "Caroline  Books,"  which  were  composed  by  his  direction,  and  by 
means  of  which  he  declared  his  views  with  regard  to  the  iconoclastic  dispute. 
His  clear  intelligence  was  incapable  of  overlooking  the  abuses  of  image-worship, 
and  the  heathen  element  contained  in  that  practice.  On  this  side  the  opinion 
of  the  Frankish  king  differed  from  that  of  the  Italians,  but  he  agreed  quite  as 
little  with  the  fanatical  image-breakers  of  the  East.  His  conviction  finds  its  best 
expression  in  the  phrase,  "  We  neither  destroy  pictures  nor  pray  to  them."  He 
thus  assigned  to  pictures  their  true  position  as  being  ornaments  of  God's  house  ; 
and  their  independent  artistic  significance,  which  had  only  been  obscured  by 
idolatry,  was  thereby  again  recognised.  His  conception  of  the  functions  of  art 
explains  why  pictures  of  Frankish  origin  are  ruder  than  contemporary  Italian 
work,  but  at  the  same  time  they  show  an  endeavour  after  life  and  movement. 


MEDLEVAL  PAINTING— EARLY  PERIOD. 


209 


and  are  not  so  petrified  and  bound  by  convention  as  in  Italy.  We  are  surprised 
also  by  the  verdict  passed  in  the  Caroline  Books  on  the  subject  of  personi- 
fications of  the  Sun,  Moon,  and  Earth,  Precipices  and  Rivers,  as  well  as  on 
monsters  made  up  of  man  and  brute  combined.  But  the  judicious  view  which 
rejected  these  as  pagan  abuses  was  too  far  in  advance  of  its  time,  and  did  not  yet 
prevail.  On  the  contrary,  such  personifications  and  fantasies  held  out  steadily 
through  all  the  Middle  Age. 


I.  Miniatures. —  The 
existing  remains  of  Carolin- 
gian  painting  are  limited  to 
miniatures.  To  miniature- 
painting  a  strong  impulse 
was  given  in  the  Carolingian 
age,^*^  and  it  exhibits  more 
than  any  other  branch  of  art 
the  survival  and  bent  of  a 
specifically  Germanic  tend- 
ency. In  the  initial  letters 
and  borders,  the  older  Prank- 
ish elements  are  to  be  traced 
in  combination  with  the  Irish 
characteristics  of  scroll-work, 
geometrical  ornaments,  leaf- 
work,  and  fanta.stic  animal 
motives,  but  the  effect  differs 
perceptibly  from  that  of 
Irish  work,  especially  in  the 
colouring,  inasmuch  as  gold 
and  silver  are  often  applied 
on  a  purple  ground  (Fig.  56). 
Again,  instead  of  the  primi- 


Fig.  56. 


tively  crude  or  curiously  twisted  human  figures,  we  find  independent  figure  pieces 
following  Early  Christian  modeLs,  but  only  in  the  princ)i)al  features,  and  not  in  the 
style  of  the  drawing,  for  the  intellig'ence  of  the  Franks  did  not  extend  so  far. 
The  proportions  are  uncertain,  the  hands  large,  with  the  points  of  the  fingers 
turned  outwards,  the  feet  thick  ;  the  type  of  the  heads  is  an  elongated  oval,  ^ith 
very  highly  arched  eyebrows,  large  round  eyes,  a  long  nose  widening  at  the  point, 
and  full  if  rather  rudely  drawn  lips.  Rich  architectural  forms,  with  coloured  pillars 
of  the  Corintiiian  and  occasionally  of  tlu-  Ionic  order,  splendid  seats  of  antique 
shape,  and  striped  tapestries,  are  favourite  objects  in  the  side-work  and  borderings, 
and  copies  of  antique  gems  and  coins  appear  in  some  manuscripts.     The  colouring 

2  !•; 


2IO  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

is  usually  hard  and  dull,  but  the  surface  has  a  brilliant  glaze,  no  doubt  caused 
by  a  wash  of  some  varnish  containing  lime.  The  outlines  have  generally 
been  drawn  with  the  brush  in  light  red,  and  a  half  tint  next  laid  over  all  in 
body-colour  of  thick  impasto,  both  light  and  shadow  being  solidly  painted  on 
afterwards.  Thus,  upon  the  even  yellowish  ground-tint  of  the  flesh,  the  details 
of  the  body  are  marked  in  black,  the  eyelids  in  red,  while  the  cheeks  are  coarsely 
modelled  in  a  greenish  colour,  and  the  light  down  the  side  of  the  nose  is  laid 
on  in  white.  In  all  sacred  figures  the  draperies  follow  the  antique,  but  they  are 
generally  badly  understood,  and  the  several  motives  only  indicated  with  coarse 
black  strokes.  Knowledge  of  perspective  is  altogether  absent,  and  the  figures 
never  stand  out  efficiently  from  the  flat  surface. 

A  splendid  work  of  ascertained  date  from  the  time  of  Charles  the  Great 
is  a  Gospel-book  in  Paris,  executed  for  the  Emperor  and  his  wife  Hildegard  by 
a  scribe  named  Godesscalc  (a.d.  781).^^  The  initials  are  magnificent,  and  every 
page  is  richly  ornamented.  Six  larger  pictures  contain  the  Evangelists,  Christ 
enthroned,  and  an  allegory  of  the  Fountain  of  Life,  to  which  various  animals 
draw  near.  The  figure  of  Christ  in  full  face  and  in  the  act  of  benediction,  is  of 
the  youthful  beardless  type,  with  fair  hair  parted  in  the  middle  ;  and,  in  spite  of 
the  dull  wide-open  eyes,  has  less  rigidity  than  the  other  two  heads,  and  more 
expression  because  of  the  slightly  parted  lips  (Fig.  57).  This  figure  is  superior 
to  the  Evangelists,  with  their  coarse  extremities  and  awkward  attitudes.  A 
knowledge  of  Carolingian  architecture,  and  modes  of  tapestry  decoration  may 
be  gained  from  the  backgrounds  of  these  pictures.  A  still  better  example  is 
the  Codex  Aureus  in  the  Municipal  Library  at  Trier.  It  was  written  by  order 
of  the  abbess  Ada.  The  Evangelists  are  all  of  the  beardless  ideal  type,  and, 
in  spite  of  all  shortcomings,  the  motives  are  free  and  grand.  ' 

Closely  connected  with  these  are  the  Gospel-book  from  Saint-Ricquier  or 
Centula  in  the  Municipal  Library  at  Abbeville,  and  one  in  Paris  from  Saint- 
Medard  at  Soissons,  in  which  the  Fountain  of  Life  appears  again  with  a  splen- 
didly coloured  canopy  on  columns  ;  as  well  as  another  in  the  British  Museum, 
which,  besides  the  Evangelists,  contains  small  Scripture  scenes  let  into  some 
of  its  magnificent  initials.^^  The  Gospel-book  of  Charlemagne,  among  the  Trea- 
sures of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  in  the  treasure-chamber  at  Vienna,  is  somewhat 
different.  The  book  itself  contains  no  proof  of  its  date  and  origin,  but  cannot 
be  assigned  to  a  later  period.  What  distinguishes  it  from  all  the  other  works 
of  the  time  either  of  Charles  the  Great  or  of  his  followers,  is  the  strong  influ- 
ence of  the  classical  Early  Christian  art  in  the  pictures  of  the  Evangelists, 
which  in  every  case  show  an  aim  at  nobility  in  the  attitude  and  thoughtful- 
ness  in  the  expression.  Here  the  feet  are  clumsy  too,  the  hands  extravagantly 
large  ;  great  mistakes  occur,  such  as  in  the  right  hand  of  S.  Matthew,  which 
exhibits  five  fingers  and  no  thumb ;  still  the  cast  of  drapery  is  classical 
and  free  from   pettiness.      The  sentiment  is  helped  by  the  background,  which 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— EARLY  PERIOD.  211 

consists  mainly  of  landscape  indicated  in  the  simplest  manner  with  rudely  placed 
hills  and  trees  ;  the  execution  is  extraordinarily  broad,  with  brown  shadows  in 
the    flesh,   besides   which   there   are   but  few   colours — white    in    the   draperies. 


^ig-  57- 

vermilion,  and  gold.  The  initials  are  formed  of  pure  geometrical  figures,  with- 
out foliage-work,  or  with  only  the  faintest  suggestion  of  it ;  they  are  chiefly  in 
gold  with  red  borders,  and  filled  in  with  blue.^* 

The  Latin  Bibles  at  Bamberg  and  Zurich  '  show  a  higher  stage  of  the  art, 
and  more  finely  elaborated  initials,  in  gold  and  silver,  with  red  framework  on 
a  colourless  ground  ;  but  when  in  the  former  we  see  the  figures  in  the  small 


212  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

scenes  from  the  Old  Testament  wearing  gold  and  silver  draperies,  this  is  but 
an  outbreak  of  a  barbarous  taste  for  the  lustre  of  precious  metals.  Both  works 
were  executed  by  order  of  the  Emperor's  learned  favourite  Alcuin  ;  the  first  con- 
tains a  gold  medal  with  his  name,  in  the  second  a  dedicatory  inscription  in 
verse  is  addressed  to  him.  Hence  they  probably  were  executed  in  the  monastery 
of  S.  Martin  at  Tours,  of  which  Alcuin  was  abbot  from  A.D.  796  till  his  death, 
A.D.  804.  In  a  Sacramejitariwn  from  Metz,  written  for  Drogo,  a  natural  son  of 
Charles  the  Great,  the  initials  are  still  more  ornamental,  and  often  filled  in  with 
Bible  scenes  of  very  original  device.^*' 

The  Caroiingian  style  of  miniature-painting,  however,  only  reached  its 
highest  point  in  the  manuscripts  executed  for  Lothair  and  for  Charles  the 
Bald,  grandsons  of  the  great  Emperor,  whose  intellectual  influence  continued 
even  after  the  decline  and  partition  of  his  empire.  The  technical  execution 
has  scarcely  changed,  but  the  treatment  shows  greater  care  and  precision. 
Broad  horizontal  bands  of  different  colours  interchange  in  the  backgrounds, 
now  as  in  earlier  examples,  and  the  effect  of  the  draperies  is  often  heightened 
by  gold  hatchings  in  the  high  lights.  The  brilliancy  of  effect,  the  splendour 
of  ornament,  and  the  character  of  the  initials,  remain  the  same.  The  drawing 
of  the  figures  is  still  the  weakest  point.  Large  heads  with  staring  eyes  and 
uniformly  broad  round  chins  rest  on  narrow-shouldered  trunks,  the  osseous 
structure  of  which  is  not  understood,  and  which  are  generally  characterised 
by  being  heavy  and  swollen  in  the  lower  parts.  In  spite  of  a  good  general 
cast  borrowed  from  antique  models,  the  drapery  suffers  by  being  too  much 
broken  up  ;  the  movement  of  the  limbs  is  uncertain,  sometimes  weak,  some- 
times over  vehement.  Still  we  perceive  the  signs  of  a  delight  in  the  human- 
body,  and  an  inventive  touch  in  representing  its  movements  ;  the  artists  want 
to  produce  expressive  effects,  and  as  they  were  incapable  of  attempting  this 
in  the  face,  they  do  so  with  all  the  more  energy  in  the  attitudes  and  gestures  of 
the  body.  At  the  same  time,  the  range  of  subjects,  v/hich  up  to  this  time  had 
been  very  limited,  becomes  much  more  extended. 

Thus  the  manuscripts  executed  for  kings  generally  contain  large  dedicatory 
pictures,  in  which  the  object  always  appears  to  be  to  give  a  true  portrait  of  the 
exalted  personage  himself.  Their  princely  vestments,  the  forms  of  their  thrones 
and  crowns,  the  costumes  and  armour  of  their  suite,  everything  belonging  to 
their  state  and  court  ceremonial,  we  find  reproduced  with  perfect  accuracy  ;  and 
even  if  the  features  of  the  king  are  typically  treated,  still  their  general  aspect  is 
characteristic,  especially  in  the  manner  of  wearing  the  hair  and  beard,  so  that  the 
same  personality  remains  recognisable  whenever  he  recurs.  We  find  the  Emperor 
Lothair  in  a  Gospel-book  belonging  to  the  Cathedral  Treasury  at  Aachen,  and 
in  another  at  Paris  which  was  written  for  S.  Martin's  in  Metz  soon  after  the  treaty 
of  Verdun  (A.D.  843).^^  Lothair  sits  enthroned  between  his  guards,  with  stern 
features  and  aquiline  nose,  but  not  without  a  certain  dignity  of  gesture  (Fig.  58). 


MEDIAEVAL  PAINTING— EARLY  PERIOD.  213 

He  appears  again,  and  this  time  alone,  in  a  Psalter  in  private  possession  in  Eng- 
land/* In  a  Prayer-Book  in  the  Royal  Treasury  of  Munich,  Charles  the  Bald  is 
depicted  kneeling  before  a  picture  of  Christ  on  the  cross  (an  early  example  of  the 
undraped  treatment  of  the  subject)  which  fills  the  opposite  page.  In  another 
Prayer-Book  in  Paris,  the  same  Emperor  appears  alone  in  a  golden  mantle.^^ 
In  both  the  face  is  full,  almost  puffy  ;  but  while  in  the  Munich  book  Charles 


Fig.  58. 


appears  shaven,  in  all  other  manuscripts,  as  well  as  in  the  Paris  book,  he  wears 
a  moustache.  Manuscripts  of  greater  size  contain  still  richer  compositions. 
In  the  Latin  Bible  at  Paris,  which  was  presented  to  the  king  in  A.D.  850  by 
Vivianus,  head  of  the  abbey  of  S.  Martin  at  Tours,  this  dignitary  approaches 
Charles  at  the  head  of  eleven  ecclesiastics,  while  the  king  is  surrounded  by 
two  courtiers  and  two  soldiers  ;  above  them  we  sec  personifications  of  Erance 
and  Aquitaine,  and  also  the  hand  of  God  protecting  his  elect.""  We  find  a 
kindred  composition  in  the  great  Bible  from  San  Callisto  in  the  library  of  Sti^i 
Paolo  fiior  Ic  vinra  at  Rome,  which  probably  found   its  \\a\'  there  on  the  coro- 


2  14  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


nation  journey  of  the  Emperor  (a.d.  875)."       The  striving  after  movement,  so 
opposed  to  the  Byzantine  rigidity,  is  especially  remarkable  in  the  Codex  Aureus 
from  S.  Emmeram  in  Regensburg,  a  Gospel-book  written  A.D.  870,  which  had 
been  kept  there  since  the  days  of  King  Arnulf,  and  is  now  in  the  library  at 
Munich."     Charles's  left  hand  rests  on  his  knee,  the  right  is  raised  as  if  he  were 
speaking  ;  the  weak  drawing  of  his  legs  is  as  noticeable  as  the  same  fault  in 
the   figures    standing   on  each  side,  viz.  two  esquires,  and   the  personifications 
Francia  and  Gotia  {Aguitainc),  each  with  a  mural  crown  and  horn  of  plenty. 
They  are  standing  with  a  knock-kneed  unsteady  carriage.      A    canopy    rises 
over  the  king  in  what    is  intended  to  be  perspective,  but  the  columns  which 
ought    to    retreat   appear   to    be    in    front   of  the   throne    and   on    the   same 
level  with   the   rest.      Above    this  float  two  angels  in  the  air,   and  the  space 
still    remaining    empty  inside  the   border  is  filled   with   the    regulation   verses 
in  the  style  of  the  Court.     No  name  can  be  assigned  to  the  prince  whose  portrait 
appears  at  the  beginning  of  the  Canones  Missae  in  Paris.^^     He   is  represented 
standing  between  two  ecclesiastics  with  the  hand  of  God  holding  a  crown  over 
him.     The  manuscript,  which  belongs  to  the  best  of  the  period,  comes  from 
Rheims.     In  Prayer-books  pictures  are  generally  scarce.     The  Paris  example 
only  contains  two  besides  the  dedicatory  picture,  viz.  S.Jerome  and  David  play- 
ing and  dancing,  besides  his  four  players  on  the  psaltery.     The  Gospel-book  at 
Aachen  is  the  only  example  of  its  class  that  contains  a  number  of  Scripture 
scenes.     There  is  a  far  greater  wealth  of  pictures  in  the  Bibles, — particularly  in 
those  at  S.  Paul's  in  Rome,  in  the  British  Museum, ^"^  and  at  Paris.     The  illustra- 
tions begin  with  the  legend  of  S.  Jerome,  the  translator  of  the  Vulgate  ;  farther 
on  the  Old  Testament  predominates  ;  but  the  best  composition  is  again  an  ex- 
hibitive  one,  at  the  opening  of  the  psalter,  in  which  the  antique  style  survives. 
David  appears  playing  upon  the  harp,  almost  undraped,  with  only  the  chlamys, 
between  two  guards  and  four  minstrels  ;  in  the  angles  of  the  border  appear  busts 
of  the  Cardinal  Virtues,  Prudence,  Fortitude,  Justice,  Temperance.     In  most  of 
the  manuscripts,  in  spite  of  short  figures,  dull  features,  and  feeble  extremities, 
we  may  observe  a  character  of  life  and  movement,  often  even  an  attempt  at 
pathos  in  the  gestures,  and  an  endeavour  by  these  means  to  produce  a  speaking 
effect. 

Manuscripts  of  secular  writings  also  appear  in  this  school  during  the  ninth 
and  tenth  centuries  ;  Latin  translations,  for  instance,  from  the  botanical  work  of 
Dioskorides,  and  from  an  astronomical  poem  by  Aratos,  with  representations  of 
the  constellations,  in  which  classical  models  are  more  or  less  recognisable.''' 

Side  by  side  with  these  works,  which  show  the  highest  development  of  the 
Prankish  style,  are  others  which  more  nearly  approach  the  Irish  school  in 
ornamentation,  system  of  colour  (though  gold  is  not  excluded),  and  drawing. 
Thus  in  a  Gospel-book  at  Paris,  the  pictures  of  the  Evangelists  have  mouths 
drawn  with  scarcely  more  than  a  single  line  depressed  at  the  corners  ;  the  curly 


MEDL^VAL  PAINTING— EARLY  PERIOD.  215 

hair  is  arranged  in  massive  formal  bunches,  the  drapery,  with  long  elaborate  folds, 
floating  ends,  and  fidgetted  edges,  is  quite  without  character.  The  types  in  the 
similar  book  from  S.  Laurentius  at  Liittich  [Liege)  are  even  more  barbarous."*" 
A  Gospel-book  of  Francis  II.  at  Paris  stands  very  high  from  the  splendour  of 
its  initials  and  borders  wrought  in  gold  and  silver,  fillings- in  of  white  scroll- 
work on  black,  and  birds  in  the  corners  after  the  Irish  style.  The  pictures  as 
well  as  the  canons  have  the  richest  possible  architectural  borders,  with  slender 
columns  and  horse-shoe  and  pointed  arches,  in  which  the  arcaded  divisions  of 
the  Gothic  style  already  seem  to  be  suggested.  Besides  the  pictures  of  the 
Evangelists,  this  manuscript  contains  an  undraped  figure  of  Christ  on  the  cross 
presented  with  the  spear  and  sponge.^*^  This  taste  continued  to  the  tenth  cen- 
tury, as  we  see  in  a  Gospel-book  in  Paris,  in  which  no  gold  appears  cither 
in  the  initials  or  in  the  architectural  borders  of  the  canons  or  the  pictures, 
however  rich  these  are  otherwise  in  colour  and  form,  with  lions,  human  heads, 
cowering  figures  at  the  base,  and  cleverly  interlaced  arches,  among  which  the 
pointed  arch  already  appears.  But  the  figures  of  the  Evangelists  show  the 
decadence  of  the  style  in  their  awkward  bearing,  and  shapeless  arms  and  legs, 
their  ugly  faces,  and  the  meaningless  motives  of  the  drapery,  as  well  as  in  the 
dingy  colouring  of  their  dark  yellow  flesh  tones  devoid  of  modelling."^ 

To  some  of  the  most  important  manuscripts  written  by  royal  command  the 
name  of  the  scribe  or  painter  is  attached.  Thus  the  Gospel-book  of  Lothair  in 
Aachen  contains  a  portrait  of  the  scribe,  a  monk  named  Otto.  The  Codex  of 
Charles  the  Bald  from  S.  Emmeram  was  executed,  according  to  the  verses  on 
the  last  page,  by  two  brothers,  Beringar  and  Liuthard,  both  ecclesiastics.  The 
latter  is  probably  the  same  scribe  Liuthard  whose  name  is  mentioned  at  the 
close  of  the  Paris  Prayer-book.  In  a  Bible  belonging  to  the  same  king,  from 
S.  Callisto,  the  scribe  Ingobert  boasts  with  much  self-complacence,  in  some  Latin 
verses,"'"*  that  he  has  overtaken  and  indeed  surpassed  the  Italian  draughtsmen, 
and  in  this  opinion  he  is  not  mistaken,  as  a  glance  at  Italy  will  soon  show  us. 

We  have  seen  that  the  monasteries  from  which  some  of  the  most  beautiful 
illuminated  manuscripts  came  were  S.  Martin's  in  Tours  and  S.  Martin's  in 
Metz.  Centres  next  in  importance  for  this  art  in  France  and  Lotharingia 
seem  to  have  been  Saint-Ricquicr  in  Picardy,  Fontanelle,  Saint-Denis,  Rheims, 
Aachen,  and  Liittich ;  and  in  Germany  the  great  monasteries  of  Fulda,  Reichenau, 
and  S.  Gallen.  In  monasteries  of  secondary  rank  much  less  important  books 
were  produced,  often  of  a  more  barbarous  and  inexperienced  workmanship,  such 
as  the  two  pictures  in  the  Otfrid  manuscript  from  Weissenburg,  done  by  order 
of  Lewis  the  German,  about  a.d.  868.^" 

A  flourishing  school  of  miniature-pamting  developed  itself,  however,  on 
German  soil  at  S.  Gallen.  When  the  Irish  style,  which  had  been  brought 
over  to  this  place,  came  into  contact  with  the  Carolingian,  a  transforma- 
tion  was  accomplished,  which  can  be  discerned  before  the  micUile  of  the  ninth 


2i6  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

century  under  the  abbot  Grimald  (from  A.D.  841),  and  continues  under  his 
successor  Hartmut.  At  the  outset  of  this  style  we  have  a  Gospel-book 
executed  by  the  scribe  Wolfcoz.  A  new  phase  is  indicated  in  a  Psalter  written 
by  Folchard,  Avhich  shows  advanced  ornamentation  and  complete  technical  skill 
in  the  initials,  but  yet  remains  crude  and  awkward  in  the  figure-drawing,  and 
this  phase  is  also  seen  in  the  Psaltcriiivi  Aurcujii,  which  is  an  example  of  the 
highest  point  attained  by  that  school.'^^  The  initials  in  the  latter  are  of  broader 
design  than  in  the  psalter  of  Folchard,  but  they  are  often  extremely  fantastic, 
and  the  effect  of  colour  is  peculiar,  from  the  fact  that  the  scroll-work,  gilt  through- 
out, is  outlined  with  red,  and  combined  with  very  few  other  tones,  chiefly  purple 
and  green,  and  never  blue.  The  figure  pieces  are  not  painted  in  body-colour, 
as  in  the  rich  manuscripts  of  the  Carolingian  Court,  but  are  simply  drawn,  the 
parchment  being  left  bare  for  the  light  parts  of  the  draperies,  which  are  only 
coarsely  shaded,  and  ornamented  or  outlined  with  gold.  But  what  strikes  one 
above  everything  here  is  the  independence  and  freedom  with  which  the  story  is 
told.  Though  it  may  be  true  that  the  knowledge  of  form  shown  is  but  small, 
and  the  want  of  perspective  often  causes  one  group  to  seem  to  stand  above 
another  instead  of  behind  it, — that  the  ground  is  only  indicated  by  purple  wave- 
like lines,  from  which  spring  a  {q.\v  separate  blades  of  grass,  and  which  adhere  to 
the  feet  of  the  personages,  often  seeming  to  float  high  in  the  air  with  separate 
groups  or  figures, — still  the  events  from  the  story  of  David  are  set  forth  with 
life-like  ease  and  an  intuitive  perception  of  nature,  as  in  the  scene  in  which 
David  feigns  madness  in  the  presence  of  King  Achish,  or  the  going  forth  of 
the  army  against  the  Syrians  (Fig.  59).  Even  the  horses  in  this  picture,  though 
coloured  purple,  green,  and  scarlet,  betray  a  certain  observation  of  nature.  The 
painter  is  happiest  where  he  relies  entirely  on  his  own  power  of  representa- 
tion without  using  older  models.  The  spirit  of  art  survived  long  at  S. 
Gallen.  One  of  the  abbots  of  the  monastery  named  Salomo  (A.D.  890-920) 
himself  knew  how  to  paint  initial  letters.  Sintram,  the  designer  of  the 
uncoloured  initials  in  the  Evangcliuvi  Longuni,  w^as  admired  in  all  countries 
for  his  skill  in  writing.  The  principal  workers  at  that  time  were  Notker  Bal- 
bulus  the  painter,  and  Tuotilo,  so  vivaciously  described  by  Ekkehard  IV.  as  "a 
man  like  an  athlete,  eloquent,  and  gifted  with  a  clear  musical  voice,  of  austere 
life  and  yet  of  merry  mood,  so  that  the  Emperor  Charles  the  Fat  cursed  him 
who  had  made  a  monk  of  such  a  man  ;  he  was  skilled  alike  in  all  manner  of 
workmanship,  in  architecture,  carving  (especially  in  ivory),  metal  working,  and 
painting."  ^^  But  no  painting  by  Tuotilo  exists  which  we  can  identify  with 
certainty.  Here,  as  everywhere,  a  decadence  in  technical  skill  and  conception 
set  in  contemporaneously  with  the  fall  of  the  Carolingian  rule  in  Germany. 

While  Carolingian  architecture  was  still  essentially  Early  Christian  in  charac- 
ter, following  tradition  in  construction  and  plan,  and  leaning  towards  antiquity 
in  details,  Carolingian  painting  had,  on  the  other  hand,  so  far  as  we  can  judge 


MEDIAEVAL  PAINTING— EARLY  PERIOD. 


217 


from  miniatures,  attained  a  greater  degree  of  independence.  The  art  had  at 
command  a  highly-developed  system  of  ornament,  which  it  treated  with  masterly 
technical  skill,  and  in  which  the  original  artistic  bent  of  the  Germanic  races  held 
its  own  and  maintained  its  special  character  in  face  of  the  traditions  of  antiquity. 
In  figure  compositions  it  is  true  that  this  school  employed  subjects,  types,  and 
even  individual  motives,  borrowed  in  the  first  instance  from  the  Early  Christian 


Fig.  59- 

art  of  Italy  ;  but  at  the  same  tmie  it  exhibited  an  original  tendency,  not  content 
with  repeating  over  and  over  again  some  rigidly  established  scheme  of  figures 
and  combinations,  but  endeavouring  to  realise  the  appearances  of  living  action 
and  purpose.  What  fettered  this  endeavour  was  the  low  stage  of  knowledge. 
The  figure  had  been  released  from  the  Irish  system  of  flourishes  and  convolu- 
tions, but  ignorance  of  form  and  of  perspective  hindered  artists  from  clearly 
representing  things  as  they  were,  in  spite  of  their  practised  hands  and  great 
desire  to  be  natural. 

This  art  was  an  art  inspired  and  einjjlu}'cd  b)-  the  Court,  h'rom  the  Court 
the  intellectual  life  of  the  epoch  took  its  tone,  and  the  principal  monasteries, 
which  were  the  seats  of  learning  and  of  art,  their  direction.     Thus  it  was,  too, 

2   F 


2i8  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

that  the  works  of  miniature-painters  appealed  only  to  a  narrow  and  privileged 
circle,  and  that  the  development  and  decadence  of  the  art  are  determined  by  the 
destinies  of  the  ruling  house. 

III.  Italy.^^ — In  the  countries  north  of  the  Alps,  the  age  of  Charles  the  Great 
marks  a  new  if  still  primitive  development  in  art ;  but  in  Italy  we  witness  in  this 
age  only  a  progressive  decline.  Secular  culture  in  Rome  continually  decayed  ; 
her  ecclesiastics  were  put  to  shame  by  the  learning  of  the  North ;  Latinity  fell 
lower  and  lower,  and  the  Romans  were  left  behind  even  by  the  despised 
Lombards.  In  art,  too,  the  decline  of  the  classical  tradition  grew  every  day  more 
deplorable.  If  craftsmen  had  long  ceased  to  have  recourse  to  nature  for  them- 
selves, so  too  were  the  ancient  models  ever  less  understood  and  more  mecha- 
nically and  superficially  followed.  The  art  of  mosaic  was  still  energetically 
carried  on,  and  now,  as  heretofore,  had  its  chief  centre  in  Rome.  Even  yet  it 
furnishes  an  effective  and  splendid  decoration  for  churches ;  but  drawing,  forms, 
and  expressions  have  become  poorer  and  poorer.  There  is  no  longer  an  inde- 
pendent artistic  aim  ;  the  austere  solemnity  and  dignity  of  the  early  works  have 
departed  ;  and  in  spite  of  an  unbroken  tradition,  the  Roman  school  does  not 
even  preserve  its  old  technical  dexterities,  but  allows  confused  and  barbarous 
elements  to  enter  in. 

In  spite,  however,  of  this  degeneracy,  Rome  was  even  more  productive  after 
the  end  of  the  eighth  century  than  before.  Increased  resources  flowed  to  the 
Papal  See  from  its  connection  with  the  Carolingian  emperors.  Builders  were  busily 
employed,  churches  were  newly  decorated.  Leo  III.,  who  had  invited  Charles  to 
Italy,  felt  himself  impelled,  in  the  years  during  which  the  new  Empire  of  the  West 
was  preparing  to  come  into  existence,  to  give  an  artistic  expression  to  the  alli- 
ance between  the  new  political  power  and  the  spiritual  power.  In  the  mosaics  of 
S.  Susanna  on  the  Quirinal,  which  have  perished,  the  portrait  of  the  great  Prankish 
Emperor  had  already  formed  a  pendant  to  the  portrait  of  the  Pope.  This  bond 
between  the  spiritual  and  temporal  powers  was  still  more  speakingly  symbo- 
lised soon  afterwards  in  the  decoration  of  the  great  dining  hall  {triclinium 
majiis)  of  the  Lateran  (a.d.  796-799).  These  mosaics  have  also  been  destroyed  ; 
all  we  have  is  a  copy  of  those  in  the  great  apse,  put  together  (a.d.  1743)  from 
drawings  then  existing  ;  this  copy  now  adorns  a  great  niche  on  the  outside  of 
the  Scala  Santa  near  the  Lateran.  An  attempt  has  been  made  to  preserve  the 
original  character  ;  we  must  not,  however,  base  on  this  any  opinion  as  to  its 
style,  and  must  be  content  with  noticing  the  subjects  treated.  The  vault  of 
the  apse  contained  the  Saviour  surrounded  by  his  disciples  ;  the  pictures  on  the 
arch  face  to  right  and  left  were  occupied  with  the  installation  of  the  temporal 
and  spiritual  powers  ;  Christ  enthroned  with  Sylvester  and  the  Emperor  Con- 
stantine ;  Peter  enthroned  with  Leo.  III.  and  Charles  ;  Sylvester  receiving  the 
keys,  Leo  the  stole,  the  Saviour  in  each  case  the  banner.^* 


MEDL^VAL  PAINTING— EARLY  PERIOD.  219 

After  A.D.  800  Leo  III.  rebuilt  the  small  basilica  of  SS.  Nereus  and  Achilles 
next  the  Baths  of  Caracalla.  The  mosaics  in  the  arch  of  the  tribune  still  date 
from  his  time  ;  a  Transfiguration  of  Christ,  on  the  right  the  Annunciation,  on 
the  left  the  Madonna,  with  the  draped  Child  and  an  angel.  The  central  figures 
become  more  and  more  feeble,  but  on  the  other  hand  a  richer  treatment  of  the 
ornamental  work  begins.^^ 

Numerous  works  have  come  down  to  us  from  the  time  of  Paschal,  the  next 
Pope  (A.D.  817-824).  At  this  period  church-decorators  often  satisfied  themselves 
with  mere  reproductions,  as  in  S.  Praxedis,  where  the  mosaics  of  the  apse  are 
entirely  copied  from  those  in  SS.  Cosmas  and  Damian,  but  they  are  rigid,  and 
without  expression,  with  long  spare  figures,  weakly  drawn  feet,  empty  draperies, 
and  indifferent  execution.  In  connection  with  Christ,  Peter,  and  Paul,  we  find 
SS.  Praxedis  and  Pudentiana,  a  holy  Deacon,  and  Pope  Paschal.  There 
is  also  a  representation  of  the  New  Jerusalem  on  the  arch  of  triumph,^^  and, 
finally,  a  small  chapel  of  S.  Zeno,  entirely  decorated  with  mosaic. 

The  apse  mosaic  of  Santa  Cecilia  in  Trastcvere  is  just  as  dependent  on  the 
same  model ;  Christ  between  Peter  and  Paul,  besides  SS.  Cecilia,  Valerian, 
Agatha,  and  Pope  Paschal.  Lastly,  Santa  Maria  in  Domnica  (or  dclla  Navicella) 
was  also  built  by  the  same  Pope.  Christ  appears  here  in  the  arch  with  Angels, 
Apostles,  and  Prophets  ;  in  the  apse,  in  consequence  of  the  growth  of  Mariolatry, 
the  centre  piece  is  the  Virgin,  with  the  Child  seated  stiffly  on  her  lap,  and  draped, 
as  is  always  the  case  with  these  works  ;  she  is  surrounded  by  youthful  forms  of 
angels,  and  at  her  feet  is  the  pope.  The  figures  are  too  large  for  the  space  ; 
their  flatness  makes  them  seem  unimpressive,  and  quite  secondary  to  the  pretty 
leaf  ornament  and  to  the  plants  which  grow  up  from  vases  at  the  sides.^' 

In  the  mosaics  of  S.  Mark,  the  malformation  of  the  figures,  the  weakness 
of  drawing  and  carelessness  of  execution,  are  still  greater.  On  the  arch  is  a  bust 
of  Christ  between  the  emblems  of  the  Evangelists,  and  beneath,  two  prophets 
on  consoles ;  in  the  apse,  again,  there  is  a  composition  similar  to  that  in  SS. 
Cosmas  and  Damian,  in  which  Christ  appears  with  five  saints  at  his  side,  and 
Pope  Gregory  IV.  (A.D.  827-844)  as  the  founder  of  the  church.  The  poverty 
and  want  of  meaning  in  the  motives  correspond  with  a  failure  of  technical  skill ; 
the  inefficiency  of  the  grouping  spoils  the  design  even  where  it  is  pure  imitation, 
and  the  figures  lose  all  connection  with  one  another.^* 

Northern  Italy  can  boast  of  a  far  finer  mosaic  of  this  century  ;  we  mean  that 
in  the  apse  of  S.  Ambrose  at  Milan,  which  bears  the  marks  of  the  native  school 
in  that  i)lace,  perhaps  in  connection  with  influences  from  Ravenna."'*  The 
Saviour  is  solemnly  enthroned  between  the  splendidly  apparelled  standing 
figures  of  SS.  Gervasius  and  Protasius  ;  above  float  the  archangels  Michael  and 
Gabriel,  with  crowns  in  their  hands.  Under  this  there  is  a  frieze  of  medallions 
containing  busts  of  saints.  Palm  trees  divide  the  principal  group  from  two  side 
pictures  illustrating  the  legend  of  S.  Ambrose,  who  stands  first  at  the  altar  in 


2  20  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

Milan  and  then  beside  the  bier  of  S.  Martin  at  Tours,  whither  he  has  been 
transported  by  miracle.  Above  these  scenes  rise  the  cities  of  Milan  and 
Turin,  JSIcdiolamini  and  Ttironica,  indicated  by  magnificent  churches  with  domes. 
The  motives  in  this  work  are  better,  and  the  drawing  of  the  draperies  better 
understood;  the  general  scheme  of  colour  on  a  gold  ground  is  harmonious,  the 
execution  more  equal  ;  but  the  signs  of  decadence  still  betray  themselves  in 
rigid  expressions,  heavy  outlines,  and  weak  modelling. 

Miniature-painting  in  Italy  stood  at  this  time  far  below  the  same  art  in 
northern  countries.  The  Lombard  writing,  which  had  first  been  invented  in  the 
ninth  century,  continued  to  hold  its  own  in  many  districts  until  the  eleventh. 
The  monasteries  of  Monte  Cassino  and  La  Cava,  in  which  this  art  was  car- 
ried on,  are  still  rich  in  examples  of  it.  The  primitive  style  of  Germanic 
ornamentation  survives  in  the  gorgeous  initial  letters  ;  they  consist  of  scroll- 
work terminating  in  leaf-forms,  and  filled  in  with  symmetrically  arranged 
animals,  especially  dogs.  The  scale  of  colouring  is  light :  scarlet,  pink,  light 
yellow,  and  blue  on  a  gold  ground.  The  figure  compositions  are  always  crude, 
ungainly  in  attitude,  Avithout  unity,  with  hideous  noses  and  short  upper  lips, 
and  drawn  in  coarse,  slightly  coloured  outline.  A  striking  example  of  this  style 
may  be  seen  in  the  manuscript  of  the  Lombard  Laws  with  portraits  of  the 
kings  at  La  Cava,  belonging  to  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh  century.'^" 


CHAPTER    III. 

BYZANTINE  PAINTING  AFTER  THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  ICONOCLASTIC  SCHISM. 

Introductory — Political  revival  in  the  Byzantine  Empire — Desire  to  keep  up  the  classic  spirit  and  to 
encourage  art — Byzantine  art  in  the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries  superior  to  Italian,  but  incapable  for 
further  advance — Miniatures — The  Paris  Sermons  of  Gregory  Nazianzen — The  Paris  Psalter — The 
Vatican  Topography  of  Cosmas — The  Vatican  life  of  Joshua — The  Paris  Evangeliariiim — Commence- 
ment of  decadence  about  a.d.  iioo — Psalter  of  Basil  II.  at  Venice — The  Vatican  Mcnologium  ;  classi- 
cal spirit  still  surviving  in  personifications — Decadence  exemplified  in  MS.  of  S.  John  Chrysostom 
written  for  Nikephoros  Botaniates— Final  ascendancy  of  formalism  and  asceticism — Ne\v  taste  for 
crowded  figures  on  a  minute  scale — New  taste  for  initials  formed  out  of  animals — Initials  formed 
out  of  figure-subjects — Appearance  of  Western  influence  m  some  Byzantine  MSS.  of  the  thirteenth 
century — Petrifaction  of  the  art  notwithstanding — Its  continuance  in  the  same  lifeless  shape — Other 
forms  of  Byzantine  art  in  the  early  Midtlle  Age;  Mosaics — Revival  under  Basil  I. — Lost  mosaics 
of  the  Kaiiiourgion — S.  Sophia  ;  distribution,  subjects,  and  style  of  the  mosaics — Their  technical 
workmanship — Mosaics  of  the  declining  period  in  other  Greek  churches — Portable  mosaic  pictures 
of  this  period  ;  examples  at  Paris  and  Florence — Mechanical  subservience  to  tradition — Painiings 
ON  Wall  and  Panel  ;  Enamels  and  Textile  Products — Abundance  and  mechanical  character 
of  mural  paintings  in  churches,  chapels,  and  monasteries — Abundance  and  mechanical  character  of 
portable  paintings  on  panel — Enamel-painting ;  not  to  be  liere  considered — Textile  products  ;  their 
abundance  and  dissemination — The  Monk  Dionysios  and  The  Mount  Athos  Handbook — Manuel 
Panselinos  —  Subjects  of  the  first  division  of  the  Handbook  —  Whole  range  of  sacred  subjects 
illustrated  in  second  division — Narrative  pictures  from  the  Old  and  New  Testament — Exhibitive  and 
symbolical  groups  and  single  figures — Ceremonial  pictures — Allegorical  pictures — Third  division  of  the 
Handbook  ;  disposition  of  several  classes  of  pictures — Influence  of  Byzantine  Art  abroad — 
Mohammedan  races — Races  converted  to  Christianity — Slavonic  races,  especially  Russia — Various 
epochs  of  Russian  popular  art — Its  servile  and  unchanged  character  at  the  present  day. 

At  the  close  of  the  iconoclastic  schism,  a  new  political  revival  began 
in  the  Byzantine  Empire,  and  affected  fine  arts  as  well  as  politics.  External 
losses  had  followed  in  the  train  of  intestine  confusion,  and  the  Arabs  had  con- 
quered not  only  Syria  and  Egypt,  but  in  course  of  time  Sicily  also.  Rome 
had  shaken  herself  free  and  become  the  seat  of  a  new  empire.  The  wars 
against  the  powers  of  Islam  and  against  the  Bulgars,  who  had  gained  a  footing 
on  the  Balkan  Peninsula  itself,  still  continued.  But  the  Empire,  though  inter- 
nally shattered  and  reduced  in  its  extent,  gathered  up  its  strength  anew. 
The  revival  began  with  the  Macedonian  dynasty  (from  A.D.  867).  Basil  the 
Macedonian  had  made  of  crime  a  stepping-stone  to  sovereignty,  as  was  usual  in 
this  despotic  empire,  but  once  in  power,  he  behaved  with  the  energy,  resolution, 
and  moderation  of  a  born  ruler,  restored  order  and  law,  and  reconstructed  the 
finances  and  the  army.  The  liyzantine  Empire  had  still  a  greater  territory  than 
other  kingdoms  of  Europe,  and  its  capital  was  the  largest  in  Christendom.     The 


222  HISTORY  OF  PAIi\TING. 

state  was  populous,  flourishing,  full  of  prosperity  and  inexhaustible  resources, 
favoured  by  nature  and  by  climate,  and  inhabited  by  a  people  who  surpassed  all 
others  in  industry  and  skill,  and  knew  how  to  civilise  even  the  barbarians  who 
invaded  them.  The  rivalry  with  the  Mohammedan  Khalifates,  which  tried  to 
make  the  arts  of  Greece  their  own,  reached  Byzantium,  and  influenced  in  its 
turn  the  spirit  of  Greco-Christian  culture.  From  the  position  of  the  capital  city 
on  the  borders  of  Europe  and  Asia,  Greek  culture  had  here  long  since  become 
imbued  with  Oriental  elements.  The  Oriental  bias  also  appeared  in  the  rigid 
despotism  of  the  government,  met  half-way  by  the  servile  disposition  of  the 
people  ;  in  the  pompous  ceremonial  of  Court  and  Church  ;  in  the  sumptuous 
luxuriance  of  manners  and  costume,  of  life,  usage,  and  art. 

The  Byzantines  still  claimed  the  name  of  Romans  and  despised  that  of 
Greeks,  although  their  connection  with  Rome  had  ceased,  and  Greek,  which  was 
from  the  first  the  language  of  the  people  and  of  literature,  had  at  last  driven  Latin 
from  the  place  of  the  official  and  business  language.  A  conscious  connection 
with  the  classic  past  pervaded  the  culture  of  the  people,  and  they  endeavoured 
to  preserve  classical  forms  even  though  the  classical  spirit  had  departed.  The 
pursuit  of  science  went  hand  in  hand  with  that  of  art,  and  both  were  encouraged 
from  the  throne.  Letters  found  distinguished  patrons,  like  Caesar  Bardas,  uncle 
of  Michael  IH.  The  Emperor  Basil  L,  himself  without  culture,  felt  his  deficiency 
and  had  his  son  Leo  (surnamed  the  Philosopher)  educated  by  the  learned  Pho- 
tius  ;  he  was  also  filled  with  enthusiasm  for  architecture,  perhaps  the  noblest 
caprice  of  despots,  and  drew  to  his  seat  of  empire  every  variety  of  artistic  industry 
for  the  enrichment  of  his  architectural  creations.  His  nephew  Constantine  Por- 
phyrogennetos,  a  royal  author,  was  also  a  lover  of  art,  and  even  an  amateur  painter; 
his  court  biography  records  how  he  gave  advice  to  painters  and  surpassed  their 
works,  so  that  his  knowledge  of  an  art  he  had  never  learnt  seemed  miraculous. 

This  after-bloom  of  art,  to  which  the  revived  use  of  pictures  in  churches 
furnished  the  most  desired  occasions,  was  to  a  certain  extent  a  Renascence. 
While  in  Italy  art  was  falling  deeper  and  deeper  into  barbarism,  Byzantium 
re-united  the  broken  links  of  her  traditional  connection  with  classical  antiquity 
and  with  the  age  of  Justinian.  While  the  arts  of  the  West  were  carried  on  in 
new  lands  and  with  primitive  modes  of  expression  by  the  Germanic  races, 
Byzantine  art  took  up  again  its  ancient  inheritance  of  technical  accomplishment, 
of  established  school  traditions  and  classical  style.  For  this  reason,  Byzantine 
painting  in  the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries  still  asserts  its  complete  superiority  in 
comparison  with  the  hasty  and  incomplete  though  strenuous  attempts  of  the 
West.  But,  just  as  through  all  the  literary  efforts  of  the  Byzantines  there 
has  passed  no  creative  current, — just  as  their  activity  is  essentially  of  the  com- 
piling and  their  knowledge  essentially  of  the  formal  order, — just  as  their  most 
encyclopaedic  learning  was  bound  up  with  the  deepest  superstition,  and  freedom 
of  spirit  they  had  none, — even  so  their  inherited  treasures  of  art  lay  in  the  hands 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— EARLY  PERIOD.  223 

of  a  people  enslaved  and  debilitated  by  age,  possessing  no  energy  for  new  effort, 
and  idly  consuming  its  hereditary  stores  instead  of  making  them  bear  fruit.  The 
history  of  Byzantine  art  becomes  the  history  of  a  gradual  but  continuous  decline, 
which  was  never  again  stirred  by  a  new  spiritual  movement.  For  that  reason 
we  shall  be  justified  in  this  place  in  following  its  course  down  into  times  beyond 
the  strict  limits  of  our  present  period. 

I.  Miniatures. — Miniatures  remain,  as  before,  the  only  kind  of  work  of 
which  examples  of  assured  origin  are  preserved  and  accessible  in  sufficient  num- 
bers to  enable  us  really  to  study  the  history  of  Byzantine  painting.  Illuminated 
manuscripts  of  the  latter  half  of  the  ninth  century  again  show  us  the  old  merits 
in  technical  handling  and  general  design  ;  only  it  becomes  clearer  than  ever  that 
the  treatment  of  form,  though  still  skilful,  rests  more  upon  tradition  than  upon 
nature.  The  modelling  becomes  weaker,  as  is  to  be  expected  at  a  time  when 
sculpture  'was  so  far  distanced  by  painting.  Moreover  the  semi-Oriental  cos- 
tumes of  the  Court  by  and  by  became  universal,  and  their  constant  mechanical 
repetition  takes  the  place  of  antique  motives.  The  colouring  too  becomes  con- 
ventional ;  in  the  flesh  parts  a  harsh  brown  tone  alternates,  according  to  sex 
and  rank,  with  one  verging  into  green  in  the  shadows,  the  effect  of  which  is 
delicate  but  not  always  wholesome.  Faults  of  perspective  became  very  obvious. 
Objects  are  piled  one  above  another  instead  of  receding  into  distance,  and  the 
diff^erence  of  size  between  near  and  far  is  not  always  proportionable. 

The  two  principal  works  of  this  period  are  to  be  found  in  the  National  Library 
in  Paris.  First,  the  sermons  of  S.  Gregory  Nazianzen,  written  for  the  Emperor 
Basil  the  Macedonian  (A.D.  86y-S86).  This  book  contains  numerous  illumina- 
tions, which  are  in  bad  condition,  but  it  is  still  possible  to  see  that  the  treat- 
ment is  broad  and  skilful,  and  that  they  are  painted  either  on  a  gold  or  very 
finely-toned  green  ground,  from  which  the  colours  stand  out  in  strong  relief. 
The  characteristic  conventionalities  just  mentioned  are  strikingly  evident  here, 
but  the  power  of  pictorial  embodiment  is  still  considerable,  the  number  and 
variety  of  the  subjects  is  extraordinary,  and  we  get  quite  as  faithful  a  picture  of 
the  costume  and  aspects  of  life  of  this  period  as  we  do  of  those  of  the  fifth 
century  in  the  Vienna  Genesis.  A  Christ  enthroned,  and  the  dedicatory  pictures 
of  the  P2mperor  and  Empress,  which  have  unfortunately  suffered  severely,  are 
followed  by  scenes  from  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  including  the  Passion  ; 
and  farther  on  martyrdoms  of  the  Apostles,  later  legends,  events  from  the  his- 
tory of  Julian  the  Apostate,  and  a  representation  of  the  second  Council.  Here 
too  the  proportions  of  the  figures  and  many  of  the  motives  are  still  quite  an- 
tique, but  the  expressions  of  the  heads,  though  quiet  and  solemn,  border  upon  the 
ascetic,  and  the  movements  often  show  a  want  of  complete  knowledge  of  the 
organic  structure  of  the  body.  Ezekicl  before  the  Lord  (Fig.  60)  is  an  unusually 
dignified  example  of  this  style.''^ 


224 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


A  Psalter  with  commentary,  of  the  beginning  of  tenth  century,  is  still  more 
important,   and   far   more  closely  related  to   classical   art  ;   it   is  also  in   good 


Fig.  60. 


condition,  and  contains  fourteen  large  pictures,  which  with  their  simple  borders  of 
dull  gold  cover  in  each  case  the  whole  folio  page  ;  it  may  be  presumed  that  they 
have  been  taken  from  models  of  a  better  period.  In  the  first  picture  David 
as  a  shepherd  sits  playiu':^  on  the  psaltery,  while  a  beautiful  classical  female 


MEDIAEVAL  PAINTING— EARLY  PERIOD. 


235 


figure,  personifying  Melody,  leans  with  her  left  arm  on  his  shoulder,  the  right 
arm  resting  carelessly  on  her  lap.  The  head  of  a  Nymph  appears  through  the 
trees  opposite,  listening,  and  in  the  foreground  the  mountain-god  Bethlehem 
rests  in   a  bold  attitude  beneath  a  rock  ;    beside  him  are  sheep   and  goats  at 


^ri?nT^i!!  ::"!i::;:::::i!!:!!!t:::!!!:!i!i";:i!::!;::it!!:;n;:;:i;:::;i:;it;!i!;i!:::;;i:::::!!» 


niiBMiHmninHiimmiDBHminflinnminmtimMiHmn<wmniMiiuMNminjniiiiimminii4WMniiii»i4iiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiuiHiiiMiiwiMimnnni»ihiiH«Hi»MiiHMiiiimHnnnni»iuiHiHHnmBl 


Fig.  61. 

the  water,  and  a  dog  ;  a  landscape  with  antique  buildings  (indicating  the  town 
of  Bethlehem),  fountains  and  hills,  forms  the  background.  In  spite  of  incorrect 
perspective,  and  innumerable  errors  of  detail,  which  show  how  far  the  power  of 
execution  has  lagged  behind  that  of  conception,  the  effect  is  still  essentially 
pictorial,  and  the  conception  full  of  poetic  feeling.  Personifications  constantly 
recur  in  these  pictures,  and  in  them  the  V)eauty  and  charm  of  antiquit}'  still  live 

2  c; 


226  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

on  amid  the  severer  shapes  of  the  Christian  faith.  When  David  overcomes  the 
lion,  personified  Strength  stands  by  his  side  ;  when  Samuel  anoints  him  king, 
Gentleness  is  in  like  manner  by.  A  figure  of  Strength  like  an  ancient  Victory 
leads  him  to  the  fight  against  Goliath,  behind  whom  Vainglory  is  seen 
retreating.  The  costume,  which  has  hitherto  followed  the  antique,  changes  in 
the  seventh  picture,  where  David  appears  on  a  pedestal,  in  the  state  robes  of  a 
Byzantine  king,  attended  by  figures  of  \\'isdom  and  the  gift  of  Prophecy. 
The  representation  of  the  prophet  Nathan  in  his  anger  reproving  David  is  of 
striking  dramatic  power.  The  king  in  his  agitation  grasps  the  crown  with  his 
left  hand,  and  raises  the  right  as  if  to  say  Hold  !  Farther  to  the  right  he  appears 
again  in  deep  contrition  with  his  face  in  the  dust  ;  behind  him  stands  Repent- 
ance leaning  thoughtfully  against  a  parapet.  Among  the  succeeding  pictures, 
illustrating  Moses  and  the  Prophets,  one  of  Isaiah  in  prayer  is  particularly  fine ; 
he  is  accompanied  by  a  figure  of  Night,  with  a  star-spangled  veil  and  reversed 
torch,  and  Morning  as  a  lovely  boy  lifting  up  the  torch  again.  The  last  picture 
in  this  book  represents  King  Hezekiah  on  his  sick-bed  ;  he  is  also  praying,  and 
behind  him  appears  the  figure  of  Prayer  with  her  finger  raised  to  the  lips,  like 
an  antique  Muse  in  Pompeian  wall-paintings,  of  which  we  are  also  reminded  by 
the  scenery,  the  palace  with  its  flight  of  steps,  the  rocks  and  trees,  and  the  sky 
behind  them,  from  which  streams  a  tender  red  Hght.^'" 

That  direct  copies  of  older  pictures  were  often  made  at  this  period  is  proved 
by  the  Christian  "Topography  of  Cosmas  "  in  the  Vatican  Library,  a  manuscript 
of  the  ninth  century  containing  fifty-four  pictures,  which  are  all  reproductions  from 
the  work  of  the  sixth  century,  in  which  period  the  author  lived.  The  execution 
of  these  copies,  however,  shows  much  less  knowledge,  especially  in  the  drawing 
of  the  limbs.  On  page  636  is  King  David  enthroned,  with  the  boy  Solomon 
standing  beside  him.  Above  this  a  medallion  with  the  head  of  Samuel,  and  under 
it  two  figures  of  dancing  women,  following  classical  precedent  in  the  movements  ; 
at  the  sides  six  choirs  of  the  temple,  each  one  formed  like  a  wheel  with  eight 
figures  for  its  spokes.  The  boldness  of  the  movement  is  surprising  in  the  subject 
of  Elijah  mounting  to  heaven  in  a  fiery  chariot,  while  Elisha  keeps  his  mantle.^^ 

A  great  parchment  roll  upwards  of  thirty  feet  long,  also  in  the  Vatican  Library, 
with  coloured  drawings  from  the  life  of  Joshua  and  explanatory  Greek  inscrip- 
tions, belongs  probably  to  the  tenth  century.  The  workmanship  is  broad,  and 
even  sketchy,  but  many  of  the  motives,  and  especially  the  life  and  movement  of 
the  battle  pieces,  still  point  to  antique  models.  Efiective  too  is  the  scene  in 
which  Joshua,  equipped  as  a  Roman  hero,  commands  the  sun  to  stand  still ;  be- 
hind the  attacking  armies  of  the  Israelites  sits  a  noble  female  figure  with  a  mural 
crown  and  sceptre,  personifying  the  city  of  Gibeon,  although  a  little  higher  up 
in  the  picture  there  is  also  an  actual  view  of  a  town.  The  locality,  and  even 
the  ground,  is  not  otherwise  indicated,  and  there  is  no  attempt  at  perspective.^ 

To  these  the  last  known  examples  of  a  noble  style  of  work  belongs,  finally,  a 


MEDL^VAL  PAINTING— EARLY  PERIOD.  227 

Gospel-book  in  Paris  bearing  an  exact  date,  which  is  pecuHarly  valuable.^^  It 
is  stated  at  the  end  of  this  manuscript  that  it  was  written  during  the  reign  of 
Nikephoros,  and  this  can  only  be  Nikephoros  II.  (A.D.  963-969).  The  Evange- 
lists appear  in  every  case  standing,  but  with  no  ground  under  their  feet,  and  with  a 
gold  background  ;  the  heads  express  a  depth  of  life,  the  feet  are  too  small  but 
generally  well  formed  like  the  hands ;  the  cast  of  the  drapery  is  classical  and 
not  over-elaborate.  Cool,  tender  tones  of  blue,  violet,  grey,  and  white  predomi- 
nate, while  the  flesh  tone  is  rich  and  warm.  Such  was  the  level  at  which 
Byzantine  art  stood  immediately  before  the  time  when,  through  the  marriage  of 
the  Byzantine  Princess  Theophano  with  the  Saxon  Emperor  Otto  II.,  its  influence 
made  itself  seriously  felt  upon  the  West.  But  soon  afterwards,  just  as  the  first 
dawn  of  a  new  revival  began  in  Germany,  this  after-bloom  decayed  at  Byzantium, 
where  nothing  could  henceforth  check  the  petrifaction  of  art. 

On  the  confines  of  this  decisive  decadence  we  already  find  the  manuscripts 
executed  for  the  Emperor  Basil  II.  (a.d.  976-1025),  and  especially  his  Psalter 
at  Venice.^^  A  large  dedicatory  picture  at  the  beginning  represents  the 
Emperor  standing  in  his  armour  ;  by  Christ's  command  an  angel  crowns  him, 
and  eight  figures  in  the  ceremonial  livery  of  the  Court  lie  doing  homage  at 
his  feet.  The  warlike  king  is  still  rendered  with  character  and  dignity,  only  the 
action  of  the  legs  is  weak.  The  flesh-colour  is  strong,  and  the  execution 
broad.  Six  scenes  from  the  story  of  David  on  the  next  page  show  one  or  two 
good  motives,  as  in  David  fighting  with  the  lion,  but  the  figures  are  too 
slim,  and  fail  chiefly  in  firmness  of  carriage  and  movement.  The  careless  pro- 
cedure of  the  artist  may  be  seen  from  the  fact,  that  of  the  nine  figures  present 
at  the  anointing  of  David,  only  the  three  foremost  have  the  right  number  of  legs, 
while  for  all  the  rest  only  one  leg  is  forthcoming,  and  that  one  even,  from  its 
position,  could  not  possibly  belong  to  any  of  them. 

Manuscripts  still  continue  to  occur  which  interest  us  by  the  multitude  and 
variety  of  their  subjects,  such  as  the  Mcnologiimt  or  Sacred  Calendar  of  the 
Vatican  Library,  also  written  for  Basil  II. ;  and  a  Psalter  in  the  British  Museum, 
dated  A.D.  1066.^^  What  is  best  is  still  always  an  echo  of  earlier  times,  like 
the  personifications  ;  in  the  Menologiiim,  the  figure  of  Egypt  with  a  mural  crown  ; 
in  the  Psalter,  the  river-gods  Euphrates  and  Tigris  in  the  picture  of  the  Jewish 
captivity,  or  the  figure  of  Sleep  who  stands  fanning  the  sleeping  David  in  the 
form  of  an  angel,  or  the  youthful  Sun-god  who  appears  on  his  chariot  drawn 
by  four  horses  above  the  Scripture  personages.  In  this  same  book  we  still  find 
a  manner  of  representation  which  is  quite  like  the  Early  Christian,  as  for  instance 
the  Three  in  the  fiery  furnace,  the  Adoration  of  the  Magi,  and  the  Raising  of 
Lazarus.  But  side  by  side  with  these  we  also  find  novelties  of  conception.  In 
(juc  of  the  two  pictures  of  the  Crucifixion  the  manner  in  which  the  body  of 
Christ  is  hung  on  the  cross  and  bends  outward  is  noticeable,  and  appears  for  the 
first  time  in  this  degenerate   stage  of  Byzantine  art.      To  the  .same  tendency 


2  28  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

belong  also  the  fantastic  hobgoblins  in  the    Temptation  of   S.  Antony.     The 
feeling  for  form,  drawing,  and  drapery  has  greatly  fallen  off. 

How  far  the  decadence  had  already  advanced  at  the  end  of  the  eleventh 
century  may  be  seen  in  the  Paris  book  of  Selections  from  the  works  of  S.  John 
Chrysostom,  written  for  the  Emperor  Nikephoros  Botaniates  (a.d.  1078-1081).^^ 
In  the  first  of  the  four  dedication  pictures  at  the  beginning,  a  miserable  vestige 
of  antique  design  may  still  be  observed  in  the  allegorical  figures  of  Truth  and 
Justice  behind  the  throne,  but  the  remainder  is  all  the  weaker.  As,  when  the 
Emperor  gave  audience,  the  throne  upon  which  he  sat  was  by  a  mechanical 
contrivance  actually  uplifted  in  presence  of  those  prostrate  before  it,  so  the 
artist  here  attempts  a  like  coarsely  material  effect  with  the  means  at  his  com- 
mand, by  painting  the  autocrat  of  a  gigantic  size  compared  with  the  other  figures. 
There  he  sits  enthroned,in  a  blue  robe,  with  embroideries,gems,and  borders  of  gold, 
and  with  the  red  shoes  that  he  alone  may  wear  ;  beside  him  stand  four  officials 
of  his  Court,  at  that  time  also  the  holders  of  the  highest  dignities  of  the  Empire  ; 
immediately  on  his  right  the  Protovestiariiis  or  Master  of  the  Robes.  As  a 
reverential  silence  was  enjoined  during  State  ceremonials,  all  these  personages 
stand  perfectly  motionless,  looking  as  if  they  were  stuffed,  in  their  over-elaborate 
and  generally  sleeveless  court  dresses  ;  while  their  faces,  with  small  mouths, 
long  straight  noses,  almond-shaped  eyes,  highly  arched  brows,  and  low  fore- 
heads, are  entirely  devoid  of  expression  (Fig.  62). 

The  inheritance  of  antiquity  was  exhausted,  for  it  had  been  allowed  to  lie  as 
uninvested  capital,  unfructified  by  the  spirit  of  new  work.  The  power  of  inde- 
pendent life  was  wanting  in  Byzantine  art  ;  it  created  nothing  from  inward 
impulse  or  spontaneous  impression,  but  worked  only  on  a  foundation  of  rule  and 
custom.  In  all  that  was  now  represented  nothing  came  directly  from  life,  but 
only  from  the  stilted  ceremonial  of  Church  and  Court.  Art  had  become  the 
servile  dependant  at  once  of  a  self-seeking,  luxurious,  and  ostentatious  despotism, 
and  of  a  rigid  ecclesiasticism  which  did  not  trouble  itself  to  instil  morality  into 
the  life  and  manners  of  the  day,  but  was  only  bent  upon  a  fanatical  persecution 
of  heresy,  an  ascetic  austerity  of  rule,  and  the  propagation  of  a  dogmatic  formal- 
ism. The  motives  are  only  repetitions  of  what  belonged  to  earlier  epochs.  Many 
of  these,  in  spite  of  all  timidity  of  reproduction,  might  well  declare  themselves 
imperishable,  but  they  have  lost  their  original  stamp  ;  neither  the  single  figure 
and  its  movement,  nor  the  composition  and  its  grouping,  proceed  now  from  any 
personal  initiative  of  the  painter.  Instead  of  studies  from  life,  tracings  from 
earlier  works  were  what  the  artist  valued  ;  but  with  the  failure  of  original  per- 
ception, and  utter  poverty  of  performance,  came  also,  in  spite  of  the  most  anxious 
care,  an  incapacity  to  understand  these  earlier  models.  The  reproduction  became 
ever  more  lifeless  and  mechanical.  The  proportions  are  drawn  out  in  length, 
the  limbs  seem  not  to  belong  to  one  another,  the  extremities  and  joints  are  only 
turned  out  to  a  pattern,  the  feet  are  incapable  of  walking  or  standing,  and  often 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— EARLY  PERIOD. 


229 


point  obliquely  downwards,  without  finding  any  ground  beneath  them.    The  move- 
ments are  no  longer  inspired  by  any  human  will.     The  nude  disappears  almost 


^[^^0  00>^^<ee'0>f^^-^Q>^^>^^>^^>^^^^y^^^^^^^?^7T^^ 


^eeiA- 


w^bn  m  ^R  )>)^  ^>^  m4  y^^  ^^  ^4  ^^  ^^^ o^^s^ss^ 


fl  Ktur^  Bff[»i  /^    pit. 


Fig.  62. 


entirely,  according  to  Oriental  usage,  wliicli  is  welcomed  1)\'  the  one-sidedness  of 
the  Christian  morality  of  the  age.  When  aiitiiiue  dress  is  represented,  the 
structure  of  the  bod\'  is  still  intended  to  be  marked,  but  this  is  done  quite 
mechanically;  the  rounded  parts  of  the  bod}'  are  (hMwii  (piile  flat,  and  covered 


230  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

with  empty  drapery,  which  by  its  poverty  of  fold  and  excess  of  ornament  destroys 
the  value  of  the  principal  motive,  even  when  that  is  still  happy.  Modern  state 
costume,  again,  was  imitated  with  the  utmost  precision,  and  the  artist  strove  to 
bring  out  the  values  of  the  tissue,  embroideries,  and  jewels  ;  but  the  dress  was 
drawn  tightly  and  mechanically  over  the  bodies,  which  accordingly  seem  like 
dolls  stiffly  stuck  within  it.  In  the  types  everything  has  given  way  to  mere 
typical  blankness  and  ecclesiastical  asceticism.  The  charm  of  youth,  the  grace  of 
womanhood,  the  energy  and  resolve  of  manhood,  have  disappeared.  The  solemn 
figures  of  saints  appear  with  gloomy  and  morose  countenances,  devoid  of  all 
true  human  feeling, — in  the  phrase  of  Kugler,  "  in  all  their  frowning  solemnity 
incapable  of  any  exercise  of  moral  will."  The  classical  type  is  swallowed  up  in 
ugliness.  The  forehead  is  high,  bald,  and  often  deeply  wrinkled,  the  eyes  fixed, 
staring,  and  in  course  of  time  mere  ugly  slits.  The  nose  is  long  and  broad,  the 
lights  on  forehead  and  cheek-bones  stand  abruptly  out.  The  mouth  is  small, 
but  without  vivacity,  without  the  charm  of  a  mouth  that  can  speak  ;  the  under 
lip  is  pushed  up  with  an  expression  full  of  arrogance. 

The  classical  tradition  held  out  longest  in  matters  of  technical  practice,  but 
did  not  develop  itself  further  ;  and  the  result,  with  all  possible  skill,  neatness,  and 
almost  painful  precision  of  handling,  shows  that  the  workman  neither  loved  nor 
understood  his  work.  From  this  time  a  taste  arose  for  miniatures  of  smaller 
size  and  more  dainty  ornamentation.  Thus  a  twelfth-century  manuscript  of 
the  sermons  of  the  monk  Jacobus  on  the  Festival  of  the  Holy  Virgin  at  Paris,  has 
such  a  number  of  scenes  that  particular  motives  cannot  on  this  scale  be  distin- 
guished, with  attenuated  figures  not  more  than  one  and  a  half  to  two  inches  high.*^ 
Any  signs  of  the  antique  style  which  still  remain  here  are  only  to  be  found  in 
certain  nameless  secondary  figures  which  stand  looking  on,  while  the  principal  per- 
sonages are  ascetically  brooding  in  accordance  with  the  mystical  character  of  the 
book.  The  careful  execution  and  rich  colouring  which  are  still  found  here  can- 
not compensate  for  this.  In  the  landscapes  are  trees  with  no  trace  of  nature  left, 
and  yet  there  are  actually  attempts  to  represent  the  garden  of  Eden  ;  or  again, 
ungainly  buildings  often  indicate  the  scenery.  One  of  these  only  gives  an 
interesting  front  view  of  a  Byzantine  domical  church,  a  splendid  and  richly- 
coloured  building  forming  the  background  to  some  figures  of  saints. 

At  this  time  appeared  in  Byzantine  art  a  tendency,  hitherto  unknown,  to 
compose  ornamental  initials  out  of  beasts,  birds,  and  dragons  ;  but  the  animals 
are  not,  as  in  the  West,  introduced  effectively  into  a  caligraphic  ornament 
with  conventional  leaf-work,  but  themselves  form  the  shape  of  the  letter 
by  simple  combinations,  and  without  further  additions.''*"  We  have  seen 
that  the  early  Germanic  manuscript-painting  began  with  attempts  of  the  same 
kind.  Thus  we  find  an  ancient  and  effete  civilisation  laying  hold  of  those 
primitive  forms  which  the  Germanic  nations  had  left  behind  them  several 
centuries  before 


MEDL^VAL  PAINTING— EARLY  PERIOD. 


231 


About  the  same  time  something  similar  was  attempted  in  other  maimscripts  ; 
for  instance,  in  several  copies  of  the  Sermons  of  S.  Gregory  Nazianzen,  of  which 
that  in  the  Vatican  Library  is  indeed  ascribed  to  the  eleventh  century  ;  but 
two  corresponding  examples  in  Paris  belong  only  to  the  thirteenth.^^  The 
initials  are  chiefly  composed  of  the  same  figures  that  reappear  in  the  principal 
pictures,  and  represent  Scripture  scenes  in  little.  While  in  the  West  the  paint- 
ing of  the  Romanesque  style  at  this  period  uses  richly  decorated  initial  letters 
enclosing  fantastic  figures,  or  sacred  scenes  and  personages,  here  we  have  the 
figures  themselves  forming  the  body  of  the  letter,  and  though  not,  like  the  animal- 
letters  of  which  we  spoke  above,  altogether  devoid  of  orna- 
mental adjuncts,  still  with  only  the  necessary  minimum  of 
such  adjuncts  (Fig.  63). 

Whether  this  innovation  was  due  to  Western  influence  or 
not  may  seem  doubtful.  But  such  influence  may  certainly  be 
recognised  in  another  characteristic  seen  in  the  Paris  manu- 
script last  mentioned.  Not  only  do  animals  constantly  occur 
in  the  borders,  but  we  also  find  sportive  incidents  introduced 
in  various  places  on  borders  that  are  left  white  :  a  boy  fight- 
ing with  a  bear  for  instance,  another  boy  climbing  up  a  tree, 
and  child's  play  of  all  kinds.  This  reminds  us  of  the  drolcrics 
of  Western  and  especially  of  French  manuscripts  ;  and  it  would 
be  easy  to  account  for  an  influence  from  that  quarter,  inasmuch 
as  the  book  is  dated  in  the  year  6771  from  the  creation  of  the  world — that  is 
to  say,  A.D.  1263,  soon  after  the  age  of  the  Crusades  and  the  fall  of  the  Latin 
Empire  in  Constantinople  (a.D.  1 204-1 261),  when  French  chivalry  had  firmly 
established  itself  there,  and  French  chivalric  taste  had  even  affected  Greek  litera- 
ture. There  exists  in  the  British  Museum  a  somewhat  earlier  manuscript,  the 
Psalter  of  Melisenda,  daughter  of  King  Baldwin  II.  and  wife  of  King  Fulke  of 
Jerusalem  (a.D.  1131-1141),  in  which  the  author  of  the  Byzantine  miniatures  has 
given  his  name  in  the  Latin  language  and  character  {Basilius  me  fecit),  while  in 
the  same  work  appear  several  pictures,  and  particularly  initials,  by  a  Western 
artist.^-  Here,  then,  we  have  the  two  styles  of  East  and  West  side  by  side  in  the 
same  book  ;  and  it  is  quite  possible  to  conceive  that  a  fusion  of  the  two  up  to  a 
certain  point  might  have  taken  place  later.  But  if  Greco-Christian  art  borrowed 
at  this  time  from  Western  models  such  sportive  by-work  as  this,  it  borrowed 
nothing  more  ;  it  underwent  no  such  permanently  vivifying  influence  and  no 
such  inner  revolution  as  it  needed. 

The  pictures  in  the  last-named  manuscripts  have  been  growing  weaker,  duller, 
and  more  spiritless,  and  the  colour  harsher  ;  and  we  now  find  the  execution, 
which  had  held  out  longer  than  anything  else,  falling  off  more  and  more,  as  in 
the  story  of  Balaam,  in  Paris.  How  far  advanced  this  decline  actually  was  in 
the  time   immediately  preceding  the  Turkish  conquest,  is  shown  by  a  work  in 


Fig.  63. 


232  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

the  Louvre,  executed  by  order  of  Manuel  Palaeologos.  This  Emperor  had 
visited  the  Abbey  of  S.  Denis  during  his  residence  in  France  (A.D.  1401),  and 
seven  years  afterwards  he  sent  thither  as  a  present  an  ancient  manuscript  of 
Dionysios  the  Areopagite,  with  a  newly  painted  dedication  picture. ^^  In  the 
upper  part  of  this  picture  is  a  perfectly  symmetrically  treated  Madonna  with 
the  Child  in  front  of  her,  crowning  the  Emperor  and  the  Empress  Helena,  beside 
whom  stand  their  three  children.  Stony  rigidity  can  no  farther  go,  but  with  it 
is  mixed  a  kind  of  unpleasant  affected  blandness.  The  heads  are  mere  patterns, 
with  slits  for  the  eyes,  and  quite  without  modelling  ;  the  dresses  are  pulled 
tightly  down  like  bells  over  the  forms,  of  which  no  trace  is  visible  ;  the  feet 
are  not  to  be  seen,  but  from  under  each  of  these  lifeless  dolls  appear  the  legs 
of  a  stool  upon  which  they  seem  to  be  placed.  The  colours  are  rather  bright 
in  tone  :  red,  light  and  dark  blue,  mixed  with  a  great  deal  of  gold,  are  dis- 
tributed in  broad  patches  without  shading.  The  art  seems  to  have  returned  in 
its  dotage  to  its  first  childish  stages. 

But  as  the  petrified  Byzantine  art  in  all  forms  continues  to  exist  even  down 
to  the  present  day,  unable  either  to  live  or  die,  so  the  miniature-painting  of  the 
Greeks  lived  on  in  the  Western  world  after  the  fall  of  the  Empire  in  A.D.  1453. 
At  the  Renascence,  when  an  accomplished  taste  extended  itself  to  book 
illustrations  as  well  as  to  other  things,  the  Byzantine  illuminators  who  found 
their  way  into  Italy  or  France  were  able  to  find  admirers  for  productions  how- 
ever little  corresponding  to  the  spirit  of  the  time.  They  still  continued  merely 
to  copy  by  rote,  without  learning  anything  even  when  they  anxiously  tried  to 
accommodate  their  productions  to  the  style  of  the  West. 

II.  Mosaics. — The  framework  or  skeleton  of  our  history  of  Byzantine 
painting  has  necessarily  been  constructed  by  the  study  of  miniatures.  Into 
this  framework  we  must  now  fit  whatever  knowledge  we  derive  from  the  remains 
of  other  varieties  of  the  art. 

The  love  of  the  Emperor  Basil  I.  for  architecture  was  the  cause  of  a  new 
revival  of  mosaic  in  his  reign,  which  also  witnessed,  as  we  have  seen,  a  revival 
of  miniature-painting.  Of  his  independent  creations  nothing  remains  to  us  but 
descriptions  in  historical  writings.  These  tell  of  church-decorations,  especially 
those  of  the  Nea  or  new  basilica  in  the  imperial  palace  at  Constantinople,  and 
also  of  secular  subjects  executed  in  the  imperial  chambers  and  halls  of  cere- 
mony. In  the  great  hall  of  the  palace  Kainoiirgion  the  columns  were  covered 
with  mosaics  of  vines  and  animals  ;  in  the  vaulted  roof  the  Emperor  was  repre- 
sented on  his  throne,  with  his  generals  offering  gifts  of  conquered  cities  ;  and  all 
round  the  walls  were  the  "  Herculean  labours"  of  Basil  himself,  his  battles 
and  victories.  In  another  chamber  were  to  be  seen  the  Emperor  and  his  wife 
Eudoxia  seated  on  the  throne,  with  crowns  and  royal  robes,  and  on  either  side 
their  sons  and  daughters  in  similar  dress,  the  books  of  sacred  knowledge  in 


MEDLEVAL  PAINTING— EARLY  PERIOD.  233 

their  hands.  The  style,  therefore,  may  have  corresponded  in  typical  solemnity 
to  the  dedicatory  pictures  of  the  manuscripts.  The  purely  decorative  style  of 
mosaic  also  still  existed ;  not  long  afterwards,  under  Constantine  Porphy- 
rogennetos,  the  Golden  Triclinium  of  the  palace  was  decorated  with  various 
flowers,  richly  coloured,  and  of  such  delicate  workmanship  that  the  room 
seemed  like  a  bower  of  roses.  We  shall  be  better  able  to  picture  to  ourselves 
a  wall-decoration  of  this  kind  if  we  look  at  the  borders  of  the  canons  in  some 
of  the  Gospel-manuscripts  of  that  period.^* 

To  the  time  of  Basil  the  Macedonian  belong  also  many  decorations, 
including  perhaps  the  earliest,  which  remain  in  the  church  of  S.  Sophia,  built  by 
Justinian,  and  which  were  copied  and  published  at  the  time  of  the  last  restora- 
tion. ^  This  is  the  more  probable,  inasmuch  as  S.  Sophia's  is  not  likely  to  have 
escaped  at  the  time  of  the  iconoclastic  disputes.  In  the  interior  there  comes  first 
a  solemn  figure  of  an  angel  with  a  sceptre  and  globe,  in  the  barrel-vaulting  next 
the  principal  apse.  This  is  ascribed  to  the  time  of  Justinian,  but  the  form  in 
which  it  has  been  published  does  not  enable  us  to  estimate  it  properly.  In 
the  semi-dome  of  the  apse  the  Virgin  is  enthroned,  with  the  Child  standing 
before  her.  According  to  ancient  accounts,  the  dome  once  contained  Christ 
on  the  rainbow  as  Judge  of  the  earth ;  the  four  spandrils  below  it  were 
filled  by  gigantic  heads  of  cherubim.  In  the  crown  of  each  of  the  four 
supporting  arches  under  the  dome  appears  a  medallion  ;  at  the  spring  of 
the  same  arches  on  each  side  stands  a  simple  figure  above  the  cornice  of  the 
main  pier.  The  western  arch  contains  in  the  medallion  a  Madonna,  with  traces 
of  the  head  of  the  Child,  and  at  either  side  Peter  and  Paul  ;  these  belong  to  the 
time  of  the  Emperor  Basil  I.,  who  caused  the  western  apse  to  be  restored. 
The  subjects  are  described  in  his  biography  by  Constantine  Porphyrogennetos, 
The  mosaics  on  the  soffit  of  the  north  arch  are  still  later ;  in  the  medallion  is  a 
golden  table,  with  book  and  cross ;  at  the  sides  John  the  Baptist  and  the  praying 
Virgin  ;  at  their  feet  John  Palaeologos  on  his  knees.  Thus  we  see  that  the  second 
half  of  the  fourteenth  century,  the  worst  time  of  all,  has  also  left  its  mark  here. 
On  the  great  lunettes  at  the  north  and  south  ends  of  the  transept,  in  three  courses 
beside  and  under  the  windows,  stand  dignified  colossal  figures  of  saints,  martyrs, 
prophets,  and  angels  ;  none  of  these  can  be  earlier  than  the  eleventh  century, 
though  some  of  them  may  be  of  later  date.  A  few  remains  are  also  to  be 
still  found  in  the  gimaikeioii,  or  women's  choir,  over  the  side  aisles  ;  the  Out- 
pouring of  the  Holy  Spirit,  for  instance,  in  one  of  the  small  domes.  In  the 
centre  is  Christ  enthroned,  and  round  him,  in  a  very  rigid  style,  the  Apos- 
tles, arranged  like  the  spokes  of  a  wheel,  with  a  flame  above  each  head.  In 
the  spandrils  are  four  groups  of  people  with  heads  of  a  distinctly  lower 
type  and  many-coloured  garments,  whereas  the  saints  are  all  dressed  in  white. 
Lastly,  the  field  of  the  arch  over  the  central  doorway  leading  into  the  church 
out   of  the  narthex  or  vestibule   is   filled  by  a   famous   picture  of  an  iMiiperor 

2  11 


234 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


kneeling  before  Christ  (Fig.  64).  The  Redeemer  is  seated  on  a  magnificent 
throne,  the  right  hand  raised  in  the  act  of  blessing,  and  the  left  holding  the  open 
book  ;  on  each  side  is  a  medallion,  with  the  busts  of  Mary  and  an  angel  respec- 
tively. The  Emperor,  who  in  the  spirit  of  Byzantine  ceremonial  is  in  an 
attitude  of  servile  prostration  at  the  feet  of  Christ,  is  certainly  not,  as  has  been 
generally  supposed,  Justinian.  There  is  no  kind  of  resemblance  between  the 
beardless  portrait  of  Justinian  at  S.  Vitalis  in  Ravenna,  and  this  bearded 
and  grey-headed  man.  It  is  more  likely  to  be  Basil  I.,  the  restorer,  as  we 
know,  of  the  western  apse  into  which  this  entrance  opens,  and  this  opinion  is 
supported  by  the  miniatures  of  the  time,  especially  the  sermons  of  Gregory 
Nazianzen  in  Paris,  expressly  written  for  him.  The  portrait  of  the  Emperor 
himself  in  this  manuscript  is  unfortunately  much  injured  ;  but  the  enthroned 
Redeemer  on   the  first  page  corresponds   entirely  with  the  same  figure  in  the 


Fig.  64. 

mosaic  ;  it  is  the  bearded  type,  but  with  a  rounder  face  and  broader  forehead. 
The  same  agreement  will  also  be  found  in  the  costumes  and  cast  of  drapery. 
The  silvery  lights  in  the  robe  of  Christ  indicate  a  silken  material,  the  mantle 
is  after  the  antique,  but  folded  with  painful  care.  The  court  dress  of  the 
Emperor  bears  witness  to  the  Asiatic  transformation  of  costume  ;  instead  of  a 
gold  circlet,  as  in  the  picture  of  Justinian  at  S.  Vitalis,  he  wears  a  diadem  of 
pearls,  a  tunic  with  long  wide  sleeves  reaching  to  the  ankles,  and  a  stiff  and 
shapeless  dalmatic  loaded  with  heavy  pearl  embroidery  and  covering  the  body 
like  a  sack.  The  round  medallions  with  busts  are  better  done,  especially  the 
angel  (Fig.  65),  which  still  shows  a  pure  and  classic  nobility  of  style  ;  the  head 
of  Mary,  however,  agrees  with  the  type  of  the  Madonna  in  the  principal 
western  arch  under  the  dome,  which  certainly  belongs  to  the  time  of  Basil  I. 

The  technical  workmanship  of  the  mosaic  still  shows  complete  uniformity 
and  precision.  Harmony  and  a  noble  taste  prevail  in  the  choice  and  arrange- 
ment of  the  colours.  Though  heterogeneous  both  in  date  and  merit,  the 
mosaics  of  S.  Sophia  still  give  us  some  idea  of  the  glory  of  the  decorations 


MEDL^VAL  PAINTING— EARLY  PERIOD. 


235 


which  culminated  in  them.  Judiciously  set  in  their  well-proportioned  com- 
partments and  divisions,  and  separated  by  rich  ornament,  the  several  pictures,  in 
their  dignified  repose,  in  their  colouring,  which  is  kept  distinct  and  lighter  than 
the  rest  of  the  decorations,  take  their  place  as  the  crown  and  climax  of  the  whole. 
The  grounds,  gold  throughout,  and  no  longer  showing  any  indication  of  land- 
scape, architecture,  or  special  locality,  come  into  constantly  varying  relations 
with  the  pictures  according  to  the  play  of  light  on  the  vaultings — now,  in  full 
light,  outblazing  all  the  rest,  and  now,  in  shadow,  subordinating  themselves  and 
forming  the  soberest  of  backgrounds. 

Remains  of  later  Byzantine  mosaics  of  the  decadence,  from   the  eleventh 
century   down,    are   found    in    many    Greek    churches.      That  of  S.    Mary  at 


Fig.  65. 


Bethlehem  contains  fragments  of  a  great  series  of  pictures,  completed,  accord- 
ing to  an  inscription,  by  the  painter  and  mosaist  Ephraim,  A.D.  i  1 69.'^*'  Of  the 
representations  from  the  lives  of  Mary  and  of  Christ,  in  the  choir  and  transept, 
only  three  now  remain  either  in  part  or  in  the  whole.  The  principal  pictures 
on  the  walls  of  the  aisles  (placed  beneath  figures  of  angels  between  the  windows, 
and  above  a  row  of  busts  of  the  ancestors  of  Christ)  were  representations  of 
the  Councils,  not  figuring  those  assemblies  really,  as  we  sometimes  find  them 
figured,  but  symbolically,  by  means  of  an  altar  with  a  book  upon  it,  and  above, 
an  inscription  containing  decrees  of  the  respective  Councils  in  question.  The 
whole  is  surrounded  by  an  architectural  border,  on  the  south  side  resembling 
somewhat  that  which  commonly  encloses  the  canons  in  the  manuscripts,  but  on 
the  north  taking  the  form  of  a  church  like  that  we  described  in  the  picture 
from   the    Sermons   of  James.      In   the   inscriptions   of  this   series   of  pictures, 


236  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

Latin  occasionally  occurs  as  well  as  Greek,  which  is  natural  in  a  work  that  was 
produced  under  the  authority  of  a  Latin  Bishop  of  Bethlehem,  and  corresponds 
with  the  mixture  of  languages  in  records  and  coins  of  that  time  from  the  Holy 
Land.  We  find,  however,  no  Western  influences  in  the  style  of  the  pictures 
themselves. 

After  the  tenth  century  were  executed  also  many  small  portable  mosaic 
pictures.  One  of  these,  of  the  eleventh  century,  containing  the  Transfiguration, 
is  in  the  Louvre,  and  represents  the  Transfiguration  ;^^  in  the  opera  del  duoino 
at  Florence  are  two  of  later  date  belonging  to  the  Baptistery,  each  containing 
six  scenes  from  the  New  Testament. 

The  style  of  the  decadence  as  we  became  acquainted  with  it  in  the  minia- 
tures— its  mechanical  copying  of  old  patterns,  the  degradation  of  its  forms,  its 
lifelessness  and  rigidity,  strike  us  even  more  painfully  still  in  monumental  works. 
In  these  great  devotional  pictures  the  imagination  of  the  artist  is  even  more 
strongly  fettered  ;  everything  is  determined  by  church  ceremonial  and  by  the 
single  aim  at  solemnity  of  expression.  The  artist  has  not  to  create  anything 
from  his  own  impulse  ;  he  is  merely  looked  upon  as  a  craftsman  whose  duty 
it  is  to  carry  out  the  wishes  of  his  ecclesiastical  employers,  and  to  adhere  to  their 
traditional  prescriptions.  The  more  mechanically  an  artist  worked,  the  more 
he  suppressed  all  individual  feeling  and  motive  in  his  creations,  the  better  he 
was  considered  to  fulfil  his  vocation.  Even  as  early  as  the  second  Council  of 
Nice  (a.D.  787),  the  iconoclasts  were  confronted,  by  way  of  justification  for 
images,  with  the  maxim  that  "  the  composition  of  a  picture  is  not  the  painter's 
own  invention,  but  the  law  and  approved  tradition  of  the  Catholic  church,  for 
what  is  ancient  should  be  honoured,  as  S.  Basil  saith." 

in. — Paintings  on  Wall  and  Panel  ;  Enamels  and  Textile  Pro- 
ducts.— Side  by  side  with  mosaic,  and  with  the  same  decorative  object, 
was  practised  the  less  costly  and  tedious  art  of  mural  painting,  which 
preponderated  in  the  multifarious  productiveness  of  later  centuries.  The 
Byzantines  had  learnt  from  antiquity  how  to  mix  with  care  the  plaster 
preparation  for  the  wall,  and  how  to  work  with  elaborate  technical  skill. 
The  churches  of  Syria  and  Greece  contain  vast  numbers  of  these  paintings. 
Mount  Athos,  with  its  numerous  monasteries  and  its  nine  hundred  and  thirty- 
five  churches  and  chapels,  is  a  chief  centre  of  their  production,  which  is  still 
carried  on  without  interruption  and  in  the  same  spirit  as  of  old.  It  is  here 
altogether  a  handicraft,  and  one  that  includes  panel-painting  as  well  as  wall- 
painting.  In  the  schools  of  Mount  Athos  there  was  never  any  question  of 
original  creation  or  individual  knowledge.  A  mechanical  scheme,  based  upon 
tracings  of  earlier  works  and  dictated  by  prescription,  was  repeated  by 
innumerable  hands  all  working  together  in  common,  and  the  most  extensive 
undertakings  were  thus  completed  in  an  astonishingly  short  time.      The  figures 


MEDL^VAL  PAINTING— EARLY  PERIOD.  237 

drawn  in  light  -  coloured  outline  without  shadow,  modelling,  or  expression, 
always  fulfil  their  purpose  in  the  decorative  design  by  their  symmetrical 
arrangement  in  the  space,  the  just  gradation  of  their  local  colours,  and  their 
simple  and  tranquil  lines  of  composition.  They  yield  copious  results  as 
to  Byzantine  iconography,  the  immemorial  traditions  of  which  still  last 
on  in  latter-day  productions.  But  many  of  these  pictures  show  also  a 
strong  Western  influence  ;  the  colossal  figures  of  saints  in  the  church  at 
Karyes,  on  the  east  side  of  the  mountain,  dating  according  to  their  inscriptions 
from  the  fourteenth  century,  remind  us  of  the  Italians  of  that  period  and 
especially  of  the  Sienese  school.  In  later  times  use  was  occasionally  even 
made  of  Western  engravings,  for  instance  of  prints  by  Marcantonio.^^ 

Along  with  those  kinds  of  decoration  which  have  an  inherent  connection 
with  architecture,  and  adorn  its  walls  or  vaultings,  panel-painting  for  movable 
purposes  was  also  cultivated.  Byzantine  works  of  this  sort  are  extraordin- 
arily abundant  ;  they  are  sometimes  to  be  found  in  Western  churches  and 
collections.  Many  are  also  preserved  in  the  Christian  Museum  of  the  Vatican, 
and  a  few  in  the  Berlin  Museum.  Most  of  these  are  later  than  the  eleventh 
century,  and  were  chiefly  made  for  exportation,  or  even  executed  in  the  West 
by  Byzantine  craftsmen.  Among  them  are  many  Madonnas,  and  especially 
those  in  various  places  ascribed  to  the  hand  of  S.  Luke  ;  and  also  single  figures 
of  Saints,  scenes  from  the  Passion  and  from  sacred  legend.  In  these  works 
we  find  the  late  Byzantine  character  generally  in  its  ascetic  stiffness,  and  often 
in  its  positive  repulsiveness.  The  vehicle  employed  is  thick  and  resinous,  and 
gives  the  pictures  a  general  yellow  tone,  which  is  heightened  by  a  solid  varnish 
darkening  with  time  into  brown  in  the  flesh  parts,  and  forming  a  smooth  and 
horny  surface.  The  colour  is  laid  on  in  harsh  hatchings,  the  ground  is  always 
gold.  A  picture  in  the  Vatican,  worth  notice  for  its  size  and  handling  as  well 
as  subject  and  signature,  is  a  representation  of  the  hermit  life,  with  the 
death  of  S.  Ephrem  as  the  central  incident  ;  it  was  painted  by  one  Emanuel 
Tzanfurnari,  in  the  eleventh  century.^''^  Besides  original  pictures  of  this  kind 
we  find  also  innumerable  forgeries,  which  helped  the  devotion  of  the  faithful, 
and  supplied  them  with  devotional  pictures  in  this  primitive  style  imitated  with 
more  or  less  skill. 

The  art  of  Enamel  might  from  the  nature  of  its  results  be  associated  w  ith 
painting  ;  inasmuch  as  those  results  are  due  to  the  laying  of  an  outline  in 
metal,  and  the  subsequent  filling  in  of  the  spaces  so  marked  off  with  coloured 
glass  in  a  state  of  fusion.  liut  the  process  is  essentially  an  industrial  one, 
carried  on  in  connection  with  goldsmith's  work.  It  is  onK^  an  imitation  of 
painting  by  a  different  process,  and  as  its  productions  do  not  either  b\-  their 
style  or  subject  yield  anything  necessary  to  the  complclioii  of  this  part  of  our 
study,  we  need  not  consider  them  at  present. 

Textile  art,  in  so  far  as   it    produces  woven   or  embroidered  figure  designs, 


238  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

has  a  better  right  to  consideration.  This  it  did  in  ancient  as  well  as  in 
Christian  times,  adorning  state  costumes,  carpets,  hangings,  and  altar  trappings 
with  decorative  animals,  secular  personages,  and  from  an  early  date  also  with 
Bible  scenes  and  the  personages  of  Christian  tradition.  The  characteristics  and 
history  of  the  technical  processes  of  textile  art  do  not  concern  our  present  study, 
but  only  its  productions  in  so  far  as  they  exhibit  pictorial  designs  of  importance. 
The  West,  and  especially  Italy,  made  great  use  of  these  results  of  Byzantine 
art-industr)',  of  which  we  find  many  accounts  in  the  "  Book  of  Popes  "  of  Anas- 
tasius.  An  admirable  example  of  embroidery  is  the  so-called  Imperial  dalmatic 
preserved  in  the  sacristy  of  S.  Peter's  at  Rome  ;  it  is  a  silk  diaconal  robe  of  the 
eleventh  century,  with  the  second  coming  of  Christ  on  the  front,  the  Transfigu- 
ration on  the  back,  the  two  incidents  of  the  Last  Supper,  the  distribution 
£)f  the  bread  and  that  of  wine,  on  the  shoulders.*^*' 

IV. — The  Mount  Athos  Handbook. — To  the  uninterrupted  continuance 
of  Byzantine  art  we  have,  besides  the  Neo-Greek  church  pictures  already  men- 
tioned, yet  another  and  this  time  a  written  witness  in  the  shape  of  the  Mount 
Athos  Handbook.^^  Travelling  for  purposes  of  research  in  A.D.  1839,  the  arch- 
aeologist Didron  found  in  the  hands  of  the  painters  of  this  famous  monastic 
settlement  a  manuscript  which  formed  the  basis  of  their  technical  knowledge 
and  principles  of  composition.  He  had  a  copy  of  this  manuscript  transcribed, 
and  has  published  it.  In  this  book  a  painter  monk  has  written  down  the  usage 
and  tradition  of  his  art  as  he  knew  them.  He  has  signed  himself  at  the  end 
of  the  preface  as  "  the  least  of  painters,  Dionysios,  monk  of  Fourna-Agrapha." 
He  relates  how  he  went  through  his  course  of  training  at  Thessalonica,  and 
studied  the  works  on  the  holy  Mount  of  Athos,  especially  those,  on  wall  and 
panel,  of  the  famous  Manuel  Panselinos  of  Thessalonica,  the  painter  whose  glory, 
according  to  his  punning  surname,  shone  "  like  the  full  moon,"  and  who  by  his 
wonderful  art  threw  all  other  painters  both  old  and  new  into  the  shade.  He 
had  been  helped  in  his  drawings  by  his  pupil,  Master  Kyrillos  of  Chios,  who  was 
deeply  learned  in  spiritual  matters.  Uncertain  traditions  place  Panselinos  in  the 
eleventh  or  twelfth  century,  and  according  to  a  Russian  manual  of  which  we 
shall  speak  later,  Dionysios  himself  is  also  to  be  counted  among  the  famous  old 
masters.  But  his  date  cannot  be  more  definitely  fixed  than  this,  and  his  book 
has  only  come  down  to  us  in  copies  of  the  original  text  with  many  additions. 
But  in  any  case  we  have  here  a  record  which  dates  many  centuries  back. 

The  text  is  divided  into  three  parts.  The  first  conveys  technical  instruction, 
the  second  gives  a  list  of  the  subjects  proper  for  church  painting,  and  the 
third  part  begins  characteristically  with  an  introduction  on  the  mode  of  making 
tracings  from  pictures.  The  later  Byzantine  art  knew  of  no  other  mode  of  study 
than  this.  Then  follow  recipes  for  preparing  charcoal  for  drawing,  brushes  for  lay- 
ing the  plaster  ground,  for  the   mixing  and   preparation  of  colours,  for  varnish 


MEDL^VAL  PAINTING— EARLY  PERIOD.,  239 

and  gilding.  Panel-painting,  oil-painting  on  canvas,  and  wall-painting  are  also 
treated.  Hints  for  cleaning  old  pictures  are  giv^en.  We  find  special  informa- 
tion as  to  the  "Muscovite"  and  the  "Cretan"  modes  of  working.  With  all  this, 
allusions  also  occur  to  the  art  as  practised  in  the  West.  The  authors  know 
of  a  Venetian  and  a  French  white,  and  they  know  too  that  the  Venetians  do 
not  use  gold  leaf,  but  a  varnish  which  in  German  is  called  "  gold  colour."  One 
passage  is  specially  important  which  sets  forth  a  general  scheme  for  the  pro- 
portions of  the  figures.  These  proportions  are  slender,  as  indeed  we  find 
them  in  all  late  Byzantine  work  ;  the  body  is  to  measure  nine  heads,  and  the 
height  and  breadth  of  the  several  members  are  in  like  manner  fixed  at  so 
many  times  the  length  of  head  or  nose. 

The  second  portion  of  the  book,  which  is  by  far  the  most  comprehensive, 
sets  before  us  a  thoroughly  detailed  survey  of  the  whole  range  of  sacred 
subjects.  First  come  the  nine  angelic  Choirs  or  Hierarchies  ;  then  the  fall 
of  Lucifer  ;  then  the  stories  from  Genesis  in  great  detail  from  the  creation 
of  Adam  down  ;  the  history  of  Moses  ;  scenes  from  the  Book  of  Judges  ;  the 
stories  of  Samuel,  David,  Solomon,  and  the  Prophets  ;  lastly,  three  pictures 
from  the  Book  of  Job,  and  one  from  the  Book  of  Judith.  The  character  pre- 
scribed in  these  cases  seems  to  be  an  essentially  narrative  one.  To  Moses 
kneeling  before  the  burning  bush  appear  symbolically  the  Virgin  and  Child,  as 
sometimes  in  Western  paintings  ;  the  bush  which  burned  and  was  not  consumed 
being  taken  as  a  symbol  of  the  virginity  of  the  mother  of  God.  After  the 
narrative  scenes  come  single  figures ;  the  Patriarchs  ;  the  forefathers  of  Christ ; 
the  righteous  men  and  women  of  the  Old  Covenant ;  Moses  and  the  Prophets, 
with  quotations  from  their  writings  ;  lastly  the  sages  of  Greece — Apollonios, 
Solon,  Thucydides,  Plutarch,  Plato,  Aristotle,  Philo,  Sophocles,  Thales  ;  and 
in  the  same  connection,  Balaam  and  the  wise  Sibyl,  with  inscriptions  declaring 
them  prophetic  witnesses  of  the  coming  of  the  Lord  ;  and  lastly  the  stem  of 
Jesse.  Then  follow  the  New  Testament  subjects.  In  the  picture  of  Christ's 
baptism,  the  naked  figure  of  a  man  pouring  water  out  of  a  vessel  appears  lying 
across  the  midst  of  the  river,  and  looking  timidly  at  Christ.  That  this  figure 
was  in  truth  a  personification  of  the  river  Jordan  had  been  forgotten  even  as  early 
as  when  this  compilation  was  written.  The  miracles  of  Christ  are  very  fully  illus- 
trated, and  also  the  whole  of  the  scenes  of  his  Passion.  A  singular  personification 
appears  in  the  Outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit;  the  scene  is  to  be  figured  as  taking 
place  in  a  loft,  with  the  World,  personified  as  a  man  crowned  and  throned,  seated 
in  a  lower  room  of  the  house.  After  the  miracles  we  find  the  parables  of  Christ; 
in  most  of  these  the  figure  of  the  Saviour  appears  as  a  tcaclier,  at  the  same  time 
the  subject  of  the  parable  is  not  always  pictorial))-  or  intclligibh'  expressed. 

The  next  subjects  are  not  of  a  narrative  but  of  a  pureK'  and  imposingly 
cxhibitive  character.  I.  The  divine  Liturgy,  that  is  to  sa\- the  Trinit\- :  Christ 
enthroned  in  archiepiscopal  robes  beside  the  r'ather,  the  llol)'  .Spirit  in  llie  form 


2  40  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

of  a  dove  surrounded  b}-  angels  with  censers,  symbols  of  martyrdom,  and  so  forth. 
2.  The  whole  spiritual  kingdom  :  Christ  enthroned  in  heaven  surrounded  by 
the  Evangelists,  their  human  bodies  surmounted  by  their  symbolic  animal-heads, 
round  them  the  angelic  hierarchies,  and  lower  down  those  of  all  the  Saints  and 
Martyrs  with  the  personages  of  the  old  covenant.  Between  these  two  pictures 
is  inserted  a  representation  of  the  sacrament  of  the  Eucharist ;  and  this  time  not 
in  the  guise  of  the  Last  Supper,  which  has  occurred  already,  but  in  the  form  of 
a  solemn  distribution  at  an  ecclesiastical  ceremony  performed  by  Christ  in  pre- 
sence of  his  Apostles.  Then  follows  a  series  of  pictures  from  the  Revelation, 
the  Coming  of  Christ,  and  the  Day  of  Judgment.  Eight  scenes  from  the  Life  of 
the  Virgin  are  so  designed  as  to  have  special  reference  to  her  festivals.  Then 
comes  the  Fountain  of  Life  :  Mary  stands  with  the  Child  before  a  magnificent 
fountain,  around  which  Patriarchs,  kings  and  queens,  princes  and  princesses, 
the  outcast  and  the  miserable,  all  assemble  to  drink  and  lave  themselves. 
The  two  next  pictures — "The  Prophets  above"  and  "In  thee  rejoice" — 
are  a  kind  of  illustrated  hymns  to  the  Virgin,  who  in  the  first  is  worshipped 
by  Patriarchs  and  Prophets,  and  in  the  second  by  All  Saints.  To  these  are 
added  four-and-twenty  "  stations  "  from  the  legend  of  the  Virgin.  The  single 
figures  of  the  New  Testament  begin  with  the  Apostles.  Their  physical  aspect 
is  characterised  in  a  summary  and  decisive  manner :  S.  John  as  an  old  man  ; 
but  there  is  no  question  of  farther  attributes,  except  only  books  and  scrolls. 
James  the  Less  and  Thaddeus  are  missing,  and  their  places  are  taken  by  the 
Evangelists  Mark  and  Luke.  The  Evangelists  come  in  again,  this  time  seated 
writing,  and  with  them  their  symbols.  Among  the  numerous  Saints  are  many 
little  known  and  peculiar  to  the  Greek  Church.  With  the  Bishops  and 
Deacons  are  ranked  the  Martyrs,  among  whom  the  warlike  characters,  and 
especially  S.  George,  are  prominent.  Then  follow  the  Anargyroi,  or  despisers 
of  worldly  wealth, — hermits,  and  those  who  do  penance  on  pillars  ;  then  the 
Christian  Poets,  with  passages  from  their  works  ;  the  Just  Ones,  with  the 
Emperor  Constantine  at  their  head;   and  the  female  Saints  of  all  classes. 

After  these  come  a  number  of  ceremonial  pictures  :  The  Raising  of  the 
Cross  by  S.  Helena  ;  the  Seven  Holy  Synods,  which  were  often  painted  in 
earlier  times  (as  were  the  six  first  synods  in  A.D.  711,  out  of  opposition  to  the 
heretical  Emperor  Philippicus  Bardanes,  at  S.  Peter's  in  Rome)  ;  and  further 
the  setting-up  again  of  images  at  the  end  of  the  iconoclastic  schism.  Then 
come  the  miracles  and  martyrdoms  of  particular  Saints,  and  first  among  them 
the  Archangel   Michael  and  John  the  Baptist. 

The  book  concludes  with  some  motives  for  allegorical  compositions,  in  which 
the  didactic  tendency  strongly  predominates  over  the  pictorial: — i.  The  Life  of  a 
True  Monk  ;  he  is  to  appear  in  his  cowl  clinging  to  the  cross,  and  round  about 
him  the  symbols  of  his  temptations,  with  inscriptions  abundantly  scattered 
over  the   whole.       2.    The   Heavenly   Ladder:    at   the   summit   Christ,   and   at 


MEDLtVAL  PAINTING— EARLY  PERIOD.  241 

the  foot  a  dragon  on  the  watch,  with  monks  trying  to  ascend,  but  not  all 
succeeding  in  the  attempt.  This  same  motive  has  been  treated  by  Western  art 
also,  but  with  more  freedom,  in  the  Hortus  Deliciarum  of  Herrad  of  Land- 
sperg.  3.  The  deaths  of  the  Hypocrite,  the  Righteous,  and  the  Sinner. 
4.  The  Transitoriness  of  this  life,  a  concentric  composition  allied  to  the 
Wheels  of  Time,  the  Earth,  and  Fortune  in  the  mediaeval  art  of  the  Western 
world.  In  the  innermost  circle  the  World  is  represented  as  an  old  man 
crowned  ;  in  the  second  circle  are  the  four  Seasons,  symbolised  by  men  in  cor- 
responding positions  ;  in  the  third  the  Months  embodied  in  the  signs  of  the 
zodiac  ;  in  the  outer  circle  the  seven  Ages  of  Man — the  children  just  getting  on 
the  wheel,  the  young  man  at  the  top  of  it,  the  old  man  below  threatened  by  a 
figure  of  Death,  while  a  dragon  lurks  close  by  ;  at  the  side  are  angels  turning 
the  wheel. 

The  last  division  of  the  book  directs  how  pictures  in  churches  are  to  be 
distributed  and  combined.  Rules  are  also  laid  down  for  Baptisteries,  which  are 
to  contain  a  picture  of  the  Fountain  of  Life,  with  Old  Testament  types  of  baptism ; 
and  also  for  Refectories,  where,  besides  the  Last  Supper,  are  to  be  depicted  the 
other  repasts  related  in  the  New  Testament,  also  the  parables  of  Christ,  if 
there  is  room,  pictures  from  the  Apocalypse,  and  at  the  lower  end  the  allegory 
of  the  hermit  life  already  described.  The  form  in  which  the  Handbook  of 
Painting  has  come  down  to  us  makes  it  impossible  to  decide  what  portion  of 
its  contents  are  of  ancient  origin,  or  took  their  rise  as  far  back  as  the  tradi- 
tions of  the  better  period  of  Byzantine  art.  At  any  rate  it  gives  us  an  in- 
teresting compendium  of  Christian  iconography  as  accepted  not  only  in  Byzan- 
tine art,  but  in  many  particulars  also  in  the  art  of  the  West. 

W' ith  the  consideration  of  this  book  we  may  close  our  review  of  Byzantine 
art.  It  only  remains  to  glance  at  those  outlying  countries  whose  art  received 
direct  influences  from  the  centre  of  the  Greek  Christian  world. 

V. — Influence  of  Byzantine  Art  Abroad. — As  long  as  the  Byzan- 
tine Empire  fulfilled  its  task  of  preserving  as  much  of  the  culture  and  art  of 
antiquity  as  was  possible  under  such  altered  circumstances  of  the  world,  so  long 
had  it  an  extraordinary  influence  not  only  on  subject  but  also  on  neighbouring 
and  conterminous  countries.  As  our  study  is  limited  to  painting  only,  the 
art  of  the  Mohammedans,  whose  works  in  painting  and  mosaic  were  in  the 
first  instance  decorative  merely,  does  not  at  present  come  within  our  scope. 
Where  later  we  find  these  limits  overstepped,  the  change  must  be  ascribed  to 
contact  with  Western  art. 

It  is  otherwise  with  those  nations  whom  the  influence  of  Byzantium  con- 
verted to  Christianity.  In  Armenian  manuscripts  for  instance,  we  again  encounter, 
though  in  degeneracy,  the  Byzantine  style.  Miniatures  of  Coptic  and  Ethiopian 
origin,  though  very  rough,  show  evident  signs  of  similar  influence. 

2  I 


242  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

Of  the  Slavonic  nations,  only  those  of  the  north-west  received  from 
Germany,  with  their  civilisation  and  Christianity,  their  art  also  ;  the  Southern 
Slavs,  so  far  as  art  is  concerned,  are  on  *the  other  hand  a  dependency  of 
Byzantium,  the  Servians  especially  ;  while  in  Croatia  and  Dalmatia  Italian 
influences  were  mixed  with  the  Byzantine.  A  Bulgarian  chronicle  in  the 
Vatican,  written  a.d.  1350  for  John  Alexander,  king  of  Bulgaria,  shows  the 
Byzantine  style,  but  with  completely  barbarous  treatment  ;  the  figures  are 
mostly  short  with  large  heads.*^"  Church  painting  in  Servia  has  preserved 
down  to  our  own  day  a  degenerate  Byzantine  style.  From  Byzantium  Russia 
too  received,  with  her  Christianity,  her  art,  which  remained  entirely  in  the  hands 
of  Greek  workmen  until  the  twelfth  century .*^^  Sculpture  was  excluded  from  the 
churches,  while  they  were  covered  all  over  with  painted  figure-subjects.  Among 
the  mosaics,  those  of  Kiew  are  the  most  remarkable,  and  adhere  most  strictly 
to  Byzantine  tradition.  Pictures  on  walls  and  on  wood  were  also  in  demand. 
The  tlironostasion,  a  wall  covered  with  pictures  of  saints,  separates  the  space 
devoted  to  the  sacred  ceremonies  from  the  congregation.  Religious  pictures 
also  belong  to  the  necessary  fittings  of  the  houses.  Miniature-painting  was 
also  in  use,  and  here  we  find  a  system  of  ornament  in  which  Asiatic  motives 
are  curiously  worked  out  in  connection  with  Byzantine.***  The  amount  of 
these  artistic  manufactures  produced  in  Russia  is  enormous,  and  their  spirit 
altogether  mechanical.  They  attempt  no  more  than  an  everlasting  imitation 
of  ancient  patterns.  Austere  solemnity  pervades  them  all.  Old  and  serious 
types  succeed  better  than  women  or  youthful  figures.  The  representation  of 
living  relations  between  human  beings  is  unknown  to  this  art  ;  witness  particu- 
larly the  Madonna,  who  invariably  sits,  as  in  the  catacomb  pictures,  with 
uplifted  hands,  while  the  infant  Christ  on  her  lap,  without  the  least  trace  of 
childlike  expression,  raises  his  hand  in  benediction.  The  Russian  paintings  are 
scarcely  to  be  distinguished  from  later  and  less  important  Byzantine  examples 
except  by  their  inscriptions  ;  and  even  in  these  certain  Greek  expressions  are 
preserved.  In  the  earlier  days  special  schools  had  their  seats  at  Kiew,  Pskow, 
Rostow,  Wladimir,  Novgorod,  and  Moscow. 

The  earlier  works  are  the  best.  By  degrees  the  relations  of  Russia  with 
the  Byzantine  Empire  grew  looser.  The  productions  of  the  thirteenth  and 
fourteenth  centuries  even  have  greatly  fallen  off,  though  there  lived  at  the 
close  of  this  period  a  painter,  named  Andreas  Rubleff,  whose  name  was  revered 
in  after  times.  During  the  fifteenth  century,  after  certain  approximations  to 
the  West  had  taken  place,  and  a  new  style  called  the  Friajsky  (probably 
for  Prankish)  had  for  a  while  established  itself,  a  strong  reaction  set  in. 
Chapter  43  of  the  Stoglav,  published  by  Iwan  the  Terrible  (a.d.  1533-1584), 
contains  directions  for  the  art  of  painting.  Although  artists  at  that  time 
belonged  chiefly  to  the  laity,  they  were  under  the  strictest  tutelage  of  the 
clergy,  who  chose  the  subjects   to   be   painted,  prescribed   the  manner  of  their 


MEDI.^VAL  PAINTING— EARLY  PERIOD.  243 

treatment,  watched  over  the  morality  of  the  painters,  and  had  it  in  their 
power  to  give  or  to  refuse  commissions.  The  bishops  alone  could  promote  a 
pupil  to  be  a  master,  and  it  was  their  duty  to  see  that  the  work  was  done 
according  to  ancient  models.  A  manual  of  painting  similar  to  that  of  Mount 
Athos,  called  Podliniick,  insists  on  the  strictest  adherence  to  old  traditions 
and  patterns. 

In  later  times,  pictures  with  neat  but  very  attenuated  diminutive  figures  in 
bright  colouring  became  more  and  more  the  fashion  in  Russia.  The  tone 
became  heavier  in  the  flesh-colour,  often  a  uniform  brown,  with  abrupt  lights 
and  smooth  execution.  The  love  of  rich  materials  increased,  till  at  last,  since 
the  eighteenth  century,  it  has  become  the  custom  to  paint  the  flesh  parts  only, 
and  to  overlay  all  the  rest  with  a  coating  of  richly  patterned  metals.  Thus 
we  find  that  in  Russian  church  painting  an  altogether  degenerate,  dead,  and 
spiritless  Byzantine  style  has  maintained  itself  down  to  the  present  time.  It 
was  the  very  weakness  of  the  later  Byzantine  art,  which  had  nothing  of 
independence  nor  any  feeling  of  its  own  to  express, — which  sprang  from  no 
popular  creative  instinct  but  worked  spiritlessly  by  rule  and  measure, — it  was 
this  very  weakness  which  suited  the  servile  temper  of  the  Russians,  and  their 
incapacity  for  spontaneous  effort.  Neither  have  any  other  of  the  Slavonic 
nations  succeeded  in  carrying  to  an  independent  development  that  Byzantine 
art  of  which  they  appropriated  the  external  forms. 


APPENDIX, 


->  • »  »  c 


1.  [These  dates  are  merely  added  as  a  rough  aid  to  the  reader's  recollection.  The  period  treated 
by  our  author  in  this  section  as  the  first  period  of  the  Middle  Age  proper,  begins,  broadly  speaking,  with 
the  Iconoclastic  Schism  (a.d.  728),  includes  the  whole  Carolingian  Age,  and  ends  with  the  establishment 
of  a  powerful  German  kingdom  under  the  Saxon  dynasty  (Henry  the  Fowler,  A.D.  918,  succeeded  by  his 
son  Otho  I.,  A.D.  936).  But  the  anterior  of  these  limits  is  overstepped  in  order  to  bring  into  the  section 
the  work  of  the  Irish  and  German  miniature-painters  before  the  eighth  century,  and  the  posterior  limit  in 
order  to  pursue  down  to  comparatively  recent  times  tiie  history  of  the  unprogressive  arts  of  Byzantium.] 

2.  Consult  Waagen,  in  Deiitsches  Kunstblatt,  1850,  p.  83  ;  Unger  in  Rti'ite  cdthpte,  i.  1871,  p.  9, 
and  the  article  Grotteske  in  Ersch  and  Gruber's  Encyclopddie,  1st  series,  vol.  xciv.  p.  188.  The  best  repro- 
ductions are  tliose  in  Westwood,  J.  O.,  Facsitnilcs  of  the  Miniatures  and  Oniainents  0/  Anglo-Saxon  and 
Irish  Manuscripts,  London,  1868,  and  Id.,  Pahvographia  Sacra.  Consult  also  the  publications  of  the 
Palseographical  Society;  and  Keller,  Y,,  in  Mittheilungeti  der  antiquarischen  Gesellschaft  m  Zurich,  vol. 
vii. 

3.  See  the  Essays  of  Conze,  m  Sitzungsherichte  der  Wiener  A kadentte,  vols.  Ixiv.  p.  505,  Ixxiii.  p.  221, 
and  Gottinger  gelehrte  Anzeigen,  1878,  p.  385. 

4.  Good  examples,  beginning  with  the  seventh  centurj',  are  given  in  Fleury,  Ed.,  Les  nianuscrits  a 
jniiiiatitres  de  la  bibliothique  de  Laon,  2  vols.  4to,  Laon,   1863-4. 

5.  Paris,  Bihl.  Xat.,  lat.,  12,048.      See  Lacroix  and  Serre,  Le  moyen  Age  et  la  renaissance,  vol.  iii. 

6.  Paris,  Bibl.  Nat.,  lat.  9389.  7.    London,  Brit.  Mus.,  Cotton  MSS.,  Nero,  D  iv. 

8.  See  Ciampini,  Vet.  Mon.,  ii.  41  ;  and  after  him,  Werth,  E.  aus  'm,  Rheinlands  A'unstdenkmiiler  des 
Mittelalters,  PI.  xxxii.   II,  and  Garrucci,  PL  282. 

9.  See  Ermoldi  Nigelli  Carmen,  iv.   181-282,  in  A/oti.  Germ.,  ii.  505. 

10.  In  tlie  splendid  Init  unfinished  publication  of  Count  Bastard,  Peintures  et  ornetnens  des  nianuscrits, 
excellent  reproductions  in  colours  are  given  of  most  of  the  examples  mentioned  in  the  text.  See  also 
Louandre,  Les  arts  somptuaires. 

11.  Paris,  Bibl.  N'at.,  Nouv.  acq.  Lat.  1993.  See  Du  Sommerard,  Les  arts  au  moyefi  dge :  album, 
series  vii.  PI.  39,  40  ;   besides  the  works  of  Bastard  and  Westwood. 

12.  Reproductions  in  Kugler,  Kleine  Schriften,  ii.  p.  337. 

13.  Abbeville,  Bibl.  munic.  ;  Paris,  Bdd.  iVat.,  Lat.  8S50  ;  London,  />V//.  J\/us.  Ilarl.,  3788  (see 
Humphrey,  Illustrated  Books  of  the  Middle  Ages,  PI.  ii.-iv.) 

14.  See  reproductions  in  .Arneth,  Denkschriften  der  kais.  Akad.  der  Wissenschaften  in  Wien,  vol.  xiii. 
Waagen,  Kutistdenkmciler  in  Wien,  vol.  ii.  p.  409,  is  disposed  to  assign  to  the  work  a  date  not  earlier  than 
the  time  of  Charles  the  Bald. 

15.  Bamberg,  Royal  Lilirary,  A-I-5,  Ziirich,  Cantonal  Library,  C'l. 

16.  Paris,  Bibl.  Nat.,  Lat.  9428.    See  the  work  of  Bastard  and  Silvestre,  Paliographie universelle,  vol.  ii. 

17.  Paris,  Bibl.  Nat.,  Lat.  266.      See  Labarte,  vol.  iii.  \>.   113. 

18.  See  publications  of  the  Palrcographical  Society,  PI.  93,  69,  70. 

19.  For  the  Munich  Prayer-book,  see  Rahn,  in  Anzeiger  fiir  schweizerische  Alterthumskunde,  1 878, 
Nos.   I  and  2.      For  that  at  Paris  {Bibl.  Nat.,  Lat.   1 152),  Labarte,  PI.  89. 

20.  Paris,  Bibl.  Nat.,  Lat.   I. 

21.  See  Seroux  d'Agincourt,  IM.  40-45. 

22.  Munich,  Cimel,  55.  Reproductions  in  Forster,  Denkmale,  ix;  and  Cahicr,  N'ouveaux  melanges 
d'' Arch'eologie,  Paris,  1874,  p.  48.  Some  of  tiie  miniatures  have  been  repainted  in  the  latter  i)an  of  the 
tenth  centurv. 


246  .        HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

23.  Paris,  Bibl.  Nat.,  Lat.  1141  :  see  the  work  of  Bastard. 

24.  London,  Brit.  Mits.,  Addition.  M.SS.  10,546.      See  Westwood,  Palaographia  Sacra. 

25.  e.g.,  a  Dioskorides  in  Paris,  Bibl.  Nat.,  Lat.  (old  enumeration),  atic.f.  lat.  6862  :  tenth  century 
MSS.  of  Metos  at  Boulogne,  Bibl.  tmmicipale,  188  (Pal.  Soc.  PI.  96);  Bern,  Stadtbibl.;  ninth  century 
do.,  with  designs  merely  drawn  in  pen,  S.  Gallen,  Stiftsbibl.,  250,  902. 

26.  Paris,  Bibl.  A^at.,  Lat.,  8S49  ;   Brussels,  Bibl.  de  Bourgogne,  18,383. 

27.  Paris,  Bibl.  Nat.,  Lat.  257.  28.    Paris,  Bibl.  N'at.,  Lat.   15,520,  formerly  Sorbonne,   1300. 

29.  *     Ingobertus     *     *     scriba  fidelis  Graphidas  Ausonios  aequans  superansve  tenore  Mentis. 

30.  Vienna,  Hofbibl. ;  reproductions  in  the  works  of  Westwood  and  Silvestre. 

31.  S.  QaWtn,  Stiftsbibliothek,  cod.  10,  23,  21.  For  the  part  borne  by  this  monastery  in  the  minia- 
ture-painting of  the  Carolingian  age,  see  Rahn,  Geschichte  der  bild.  Kiinste  in  der  Schweiz,  p.  130  sqq.,  and 
Id.  Das  J-salterijim  aurentn  von  St.  Gallen,  1878. 

32.  Casus  S.  Gain.  cont.  Man.  Germ.  Hist.;  SS.  IL,  p.  94. 

33.  Consult  Schnaase,  Gesch.  der  bild.  K'unste,  vol.  iii.  p.  572  (2d  ed.);  Rumohr,  Italienische  Forsch- 
ungen,  vol.  i. ;  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle,  Hist,  of  Painting  in  Italy,  vol.  i. 

34.  Figured  in  Gutensohn  and  Knapp,  PI.  43;   Garrucci,  PI.  283.  35.   Ibid.,  PI.  284. 

36.  See  De  Rossi,  Mhs.  Crist.;  Miintz,  E.,  m  Pevue  arch'eol.,  N.S.,  vol.  xxviii.  (1874);  Garrucci, 
PI.  285-291. 

37.  Garrucci,  PI.  292,  293.  38.    Ibid.,  PI.  294. 

39.  Figured  in  Du  Sommerard,  Lcs  arts  an  moyen  age  S.  ix.  PI.  19  ;  comp.  Mittelalt.  Knnstdenkmdler 
des  bsterreich.  Kaiserstaates,  vol.  ii.  p.  32. 

40.  Specimens  of  the  first  of  these  two  MSS.,  in  the  new  work,  Paleogr.  Alontecasinense ;  of  the 
second  in  Silvestre,  Paleogr.  univ.,  vol.  iv. 

41.  Paris,  Bibl.  N'at.,  Gr.  510.  Reproductions  in  Labarte,  PI.  81  ;  Louandre,  Arts  soviptuaires ;  and 
Silvestre,  Paleogr.  univ.,  vol.  ii. 

42.  Paris,  Bibl.  Nat.,  Gr.  139.  Reproductions  in  Montfaucon,  Palaogr,  gra:c.,  p.  13,  and  Labarte, 
PI.  82. 

43.  Rome,  Bibl.   Vat.  699  ;  the  Elijah  subject  is  figured  Agincourt,  PI.  34. 

44.  Rome,  Bibl.  Vat.,  Palat.,  Gr.  405  ;  the  Joshua  subject  is  figured  Agincourt,  PI.  28-30  ;  Paloeogr. 
Soc,  PI.  108. 

45.  Paris,  Bibl.  A'at.,  Gr.  70;  see  Silvestre,  vol.  ii.  and  Labarte,  PI.  84.  Books  of  a  similar  kind 
are  Paris,  Bibl.  Nat.,  Gr.  64  ;   Munich,  Cimel.      B.  4;   and  Vienna,  Hofbibl.,  Suppl.  Kollar,  vi. 

46.  Venice,  Bibl.  Marc.,  cod.  xvii.  ;  see  Labarte,  PI.  85  sqq. 

47.  *Rome,  Bibl.  Vat.,  161 3  ;  London,  Brit.  Mus.,  purchased  at  the  Borrel  sale.  The  former  of  these 
two  books  contains  430  miniatures,  and  on  various  pages  the  following  names  of  illuminators : — Georgios, 
Simeon,  Michael  Mikros,  Menas,  Nestor,  Michael  Blachernita,  Simeon  Blachernita,  Pantaleon.  Speci- 
mens in  Agincourt,  PI.  31-33. 

48.  Paris,  Bibl.  Nat.,  Coislin,  79.      Specimens  in  Montfaucon,  Bibliotheca  Coisliniana,  Paris,  17 15. 

49.  Paris,  Bibl.  iVat.,  Gr.  1 208  :  see  Labarte,  PI.  87,  and  for  a  similar  MS.  in  the  Vatican  Library 
(1162),  Agincourt,  PI.  50,  51. 

50.  Series  of  examples  in  Montfaucon,  Pahrogr.  Gnec,  p.  254. 

51.  Rome,  Bibl.   Vat.,  469  (see  Agincourt,  PI.  49)  ;  Paris,  Bibl.  Nat.,  543,  550. 

52.  London,  Brit.  Mus.,  Egerton,  11 39. 

53.  Paris,  Bibl.  Nat.,  Gr.   1128;   Louvre,  Mus&e  de  la  Renaissance,  livres^  53. 

54.  Theophanes  continuatus,  pp.  332  sqq.,  456.  Compare  Paris,  Bibl.  Auit.,  Gr.  64  ;  (see  Labarte, 
PI.  83). 

55.  Salzenberg,  Altckristliche  Baiidenkmdler  von  Constantinopel,  Berlin,  1854;  selections  in  Labarte, 
PI.  118  sqq. 

56.  Vogiie,  M.  de,  Les  iglises  de  la  Terre  Sainte ;  Paris,   i860,  p.  64,  PI.  3-5. 

57.  Labarte,  PI.   120.  58.    See  Richter,  J.  P.,  in  Zeitschrift  fiir  bild.  Kunst,  vol.  xiii.  p.  205. 


APPENDIX.  247 

59.  Agincouit,  ri.  82  ;  and  see  Bunsen  and  Plainer,  Besclireibung  der  Stadt  Rom,  ii.  2,  375. 

60.  See  Didron,  Annales  archeologiqiies,  i.  152,  with  figures;  Bock,  Fr.,  Kleinodien  des  heil.  ront. 
Retihs  deutscher  Nation,  Vienna,  1864,  PI.  18  sqq.  (splendid  reproduction  in  colours);  and  compare  Bock, 
Gesch.  der  litiirgischett  Grwdtider  des  Mittelalters,  Bonn,  1 859-1 871. 

61.  See  Didron  and  Durand,  Manuel d"" ko)iographie chretienne grecqtie et latine,  Paris,  1845  ;  Schafer,  G., 
cp/itTjceta  T^s  ^uypaipiK^s,  k.t.X.      1 855. 

62.  Agincourt,  PI.  61. 

63.  Consult  Schnaase,  Gesch.  der  bild.  Kilnste,  and  Unger  in  Ersch  and  Gruber's  Encyclopddie ;  also 
the  result  of  new  researches  in  Moscow,  by  Theodor  Busslaieff,  published  by  !•  P.  Richter  in  Unsere  Zeit, 
new  series,  vol.  xiii.,  1877. 

64.  See  Boutovsky,  V.  de,  Histoire  de  rorneinent  russe  du  X.  an  XVI.  siecle,  Paris,  1870;  and 
Viollet-le-Duc,  E.,  V art  russe,  Paris,  1877. 


BOOK   II. 

MEDIEVAL    PAINTING. 


SECTION    II. 
CENTRAL  OR  ROMANESQUE  PERIOD  (About  a. d.  950-1250).'      ' 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

General  character  of  this  period — Origin  of  the  name  Romanesque — Excellence  of  architecture — Relative 
inferiority  of  sculpture  and  painting — Inadequate  resources  of  these  arts  throughout  the  Middle  Age — 
Comparative  skill  of  Western  and  Byzanthie  artists — Progress,  consequent  upon  the  revival  of  architecture, 
from  a  Rude  to  a  Severe  style  in  the  other  arts — Relative  share  of  laymen  and  ecclesiastics  in  the 
practice  of  the  arts — Position  of  the  Church  towards  art — Spirit  of  the  monkish  artists — Influence  of  the 
Court  next  to  that  of  the  Church  —  Tradition  of  artistic  training  in  monasteries;  the  ScheJula  of 
Theophilus — Other  extant  treatises — Division  of  subject  according  to  technical  varieties  and  not  accord- 
ing to  nationality — Amid  the  unity  of  Christendom  Germany  at  this  period  has  the  pre-eminence. 

We  now  enter  upon  the  period  of  the  "  Romanesque  "  style,  which  opens  towards 
the  end  of  the  tenth  century  and  closes  in  the  course  of  the  thirteenth. 
This  period  of  art  coincides  with  the  most  momentous  phenomena  of  mediaeval 
histor)', — the  development  of  political  life  on  a  new  foundation,  that  of  feudal- 
ism— the  culmination  of  the  Imperial  power,  as  an  actually  governing  power  in 
Germany,  Italy,  the  Slav  territories  bordering  upon  Germany,  and  for  a  time 
also  in  the  province  of  Burgundy,  and  as  the  highest  secular  authority  in 
relation  to  all  other  Christian  States, — the  complete  extrusion  of  the  influence 
of  the  Byzantine  Empire  from  the  politics  of  the  West, — the  prodigious 
expansion  of  the  power  of  the  Church  under  the  protection  of  the  Empire — her 
internal  reforms,  and  presently  her  uprising  against  the  secular  authority, — the 
momentous  conflict  between  the  spiritual  and  the  temporal  powers, — the  daring 
aggression  of  the  former, — the  defeat  of  the  latter,  but  her  perpetual  resistance 
notwithstanding  defeat,  a  resistance  drawing  inexhaustible  vitality  from  the 
national  and  patriotic  elements  in  the  German  kingdom, — the  culmination  of 
religious  enthusiasm  and  of  the  genius  of  romantic  warfare  in  the  Crusades. 

The  term  Romanesque,  to  which  modern  writings  on  the  history  of  art 
have  given  currency,  refers  in  the  first  instance  to  that  style  of  architecture 
which,  like  the  languages  known  as  the  Romance,  was  derived  from  Rome. 
But  the  designation  is  applicable  no  less  to  the  other  fine  arts  in  the  period 
now  before  us,  since  they  are  imbued  with  the  same  spirit,  and  since  they  come 
under  the  influence  of  the  prevailing  architectural  system  ;  to  the  monumental 
constructions  of  which,  indeed,  they  are  directly  attached  and  subordinated. 

Architecture  in  this  age  was  a  noble  art,  pursued  in  accordance  with  fully 
realised  aims  and  fully  developed  laws.  Its  productions  were  complete  in 
their  kind.  Painting  and  sculpture,  on  the  other  hand,  were  still  at  a  primitive 
stage.      The  races  by  whom  these  several  arts  were  practised  hatl  but  lately,  we 


252  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

must  remember,  emerged  from  barbarism.  First  of  all  we  find  them  acquiring 
from  teaching  and  the  study  of  models  the  purely  technical  parts  of  architectural 
and  other  handicrafts.  They  add  new  dexterities  to  those  they  already 
possess  ;  they  preserve  their  capacity  for  giving  to  technical  products  the  form 
and  decoration  suitable  to  their  material,  mode  of  workmanship,  and  destination. 
They  make  progress  in  architectural  construction  ;  practice  making  up  in  many 
points  for  want  of  science.  The  individual  forms  of  ancient  architecture  they  are 
able  in  a  general  way  to  grasp  ;  these  they  reproduce,  not  correctly  or  exactly 
indeed,  but  rudely  and  imperfectly,  preserving  nevertheless  the  general  features. 
With  classical  forms  as  thus  assimilated  they  combine  their  own  native  systems 
of  ornament,  in  which  geometrical  elements  prevail,  and  show  themselves  cap- 
able of  working  out  their  designs  so  that  form  shall  correspond  to  construction. 

But  a  prevailing  bent  towards  the  technical  and  ornamental  parts  of  artistic 
practice,  together  with  the  power  of  approximately  reproducing  ancient  models, 
is  an  endowment  which,  though  it  may  be  sufficient  for  success  in  architecture, 
is  insufficient  for  success  in  sculpture  or  painting.  These  arts,  which  have  for 
their  task  to  reproduce  the  organic  forms  of  nature,  demand  the  most  accurate 
power  of  ocular  perception,  the  most  penetrating  grasp  of  the  object  and 
knowledge  of  its  organisation,  the  full  realisation  of  its  aspect.  The  rudeness 
and  imperfection  of  mediaeval  attempts  arise  not  so  much  from  manual  as  from 
mental  shortcomings, — from  the  bluntness  of  sense  which  fails  to  see  natural 
appearances  with  precision  because  it  does  not  fully  realise  them  in  conscious- 
ness, and  from  the  servitude  of  spirit  which  fails  to  assert  the  right  of  personal 
impression  and  interpretation  as  opposed  to  tradition  and  authority.  Hence  it 
is  that  sculpture  and  painting  in  the  Middle  Age  are  still  like  the  sculpture 
and  painting  of  children.   . 

The  Church  was  the  teacher  of  the  nations,  and  sought  to  raise  them  out  of 
barbarism,  establishing  in  their  midst  discipline,  morality,  and  orderly  activity, 
and  teaching  them  skill  in  handicrafts  and  a  certain  measure  of  knowledge. 
But  spiritual  freedom  the  Church  could  not  impart,  since  at  the  ver}-  roots  of 
the  Christian  spirit  lay  the  conception  of  man's  unworthiness,  of  the  nothingness 
of  his  own  strength,  and  his  dependence  upon  a  mysterious  and  higher  power. 
With  all  this  was  bound  up  the  doctrine  of  the  original  sinfulness  of  man's 
nature,  which  certainly  could  not  in  itself  form  any  subject  for  the  imagery  of 
art.  For  the  Middle  Age,  then,  sculpture  and  painting  were  but  a  kind  of 
picture-writing,  which  taught  the  story  of  redemption  to  those  who  could 
not  read  for  themselves,  and  served  before  all  things  as  an  instrument  for 
imparting  religious  information.  The  true  mission  of  art,  which  is  to  give 
complete  expression  to  the  spiritual  by  means  of  sensible  appearances 
appealing  to  contemplation  not  merely  by  what  they  suggest  but  by  what  they 
visibly  are, — this  mission  it  remained  beyond  the  power  of  the  Middle  Age  to 
fulfil.      The  art  of  antiquity  is  an   art  of  self-contented   repose,  because  in   it 


MEDL^VAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD.  253 

the  spiritual  contents  correspond  harmoniously  with  the  outward  form.  In  the 
creations  of  the  Middle  Age,  on  the  other  hand,  there  makes  itself  felt  a 
purpose  striving  for  expression  and  yearning  to  unfold  the  highest,  yet 
everywhere  coming  to  light  imperfectly,  everywhere  foiled  and  crippled  by  the 
inadequacy  of  its  own  resources. 

Byzantine  art  stood  in  no  more  independent  relation  to  nature,  and 
proceeded  from  no  more  free  or  spiritual  interpretation,  than  the  art  of  the 
West  ;  its  creations  were  not  determined  by  personal  impression  and  observa- 
tion, but  by  tradition  and  authorit)^  Still  its  general  level  was  higher  than 
that  of  Western  art  at  the  same  time,  because  it  preserved  longer  the  traditions 
of  antiquity.  But  the  art  of  the  West  struggled  towards  improvement  in  the 
hands  of  young  and  vigorous  nations,  while  Byzantine  art,  of  which  the 
survival  was  merely  mechanical,  went  back. 

In  the  midst,  however,  of  the  groping  awkwardness,  the  shapeless  ugliness 
of  the  pictures  belonging  to  the  beginning  of  the  period  we  arc  now  about  to 
consider — qualities  which  make  them  appear  crude  even  compared  with  the 
products  of  the  Carolingian  age — -they  still  show  frequent  traces  of  fresh  and 
genuine  feeling,  even  though  expressed  with  vagueness,  inefficiency,  or  exaggera- 
tion. Such  feeling  leads  by  degrees  to  improvement,  first  in  technical  skill, 
afterwards  in  style  also.  The  brilliant  revival  of  architecture  led  the  wa)'  for  a 
revival  of  the  other  arts.  The  instincts  that  liavc  been  trained  to  appreciate  law 
and  proportion  in  architecture  seek  for  law  and  proportion  in  the  appearances 
of  organic  nature  also,  and  cannot  rest  satisfied  with  the  old  uncertainty  and 
capriciousness  of  form.  But  as  mediaeval  art  had  no  spontaneous  feeling  of  its 
own  for  nature,  it  proceeded  to  treat  natural  objects,  not  according  to  the  laws 
of  their  own  being,  but  according  to  principles  of  .symmetry  and  regularity 
borrowed  from  architecture.  Instead  of  the  weak  bodily  proportions,  the  squat 
forms,  the  ungainly  or  exaggerated  movements,  more  order  and  repose  appear  ; 
the  body  is  shaped  in  accordance  with  certain  canons  of  proportion  ;  in 
grouping  and  arrangement,  as  well  as  in  gestures,  .s}'mmetry  and  architectural 
severity  prevail.  In  connection  with  the  works  of  architecture,  the  other 
manual  fine  arts  gain  a  character  of  assurance  and  stability.  This  archi- 
tectural character  runs  through  all  except  the  most  primitive  paintings  of  the 
period,  and  is  to  be  discerned  even  in  the  miniatures  and  mere  ornamental 
pen-work  of  manuscripts  ;  the  slightest  of  which  is  generally  conceived  just 
as  if  it  had  been  intended  for  the  decoration  of  large  wall-spaces.  In  this 
way  mcdi.eval  art  made  its  first  great  step,  —  the  step,  as  we  ma\-  define 
it,  from  a  Rude  to  a  Severe  style.  Hut  even  at  this  point  the  artist  is 
still  under  the  ban  of  the  traditional  and  the  l)pical,  and  it  is  only  at  the  close 
of  this  epoch  that  we  shall  find  artistic  conceptions  striving  to  free  themselves 
from  such  bondage,  and  U)  fight  their  way  to  the  e.\pressi(jn  of  jjersonal  feeling 
and  observation.      But  the   final  or  free  style,  which  is  the  goal  towards  which 


254  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

these  efforts  pointed,  could  not  be  attained  except  under  a  phase  of  intellectual 
culture  more  advanced  than  that  of  the  Middle  Age. 

The  practice  of  art  during  the  Romanesque  period  lay  principally  in  the 
hands  of  ecclesiastics,  although  recent  researches  tend  to  prove  that  this  was  by 
no  means  so  exclusively  the  case  as  was  formerly  supposed."  Among  artists 
mentioned  in  inscriptions,  the  number  belonging  to  the  priestly  order  is  in  truth 
not  great,  while  among  those  mentioned  in  historical  writings  it  is  far  more  con- 
siderable, precisely  because  the  chroniclers  themselves  were  generally  ecclesiastics, 
and  naturally  thought  those  names  most  worthy  of  notice  which  did  honour  to 
their  own  profession.  Lay  artists  were  no  free  agents,  but  servants  in  the  employ 
either  of  a  spiritual  or  a  secular  master.  When  we  find  appended  to  the 
name  of  an  artist  no  mention  of  his  sacred  calling,  but  only  the  name  of  his 
home  or  birthplace,  we  may  regularly- conclude  that  he  is  a  layman.  In  a  few 
cases,  however,  the  birthplace  may  also  be  added  to  the  name  of  an  ecclesiasti- 
cal artist,  and  occasionally  one  such  may  follow  the  custom  of  lay  craftsmen  in 
styling  himself  master  {inagister)?  One  branch  of  art  alone,  that  of  illuminat- 
ing manuscripts,  was  entirely  carried  on  by  monks,  because  of  its  close  connec- 
tion with  the  art  of  writing.  The  writing-room  or  scriptorhan  of  a  monastery 
was  placed  next  to  the  church  and  in  communication  with  the  library — as  we 
find  it,  for  instance,  in  an  old  ground-plan  of  the  monastery  of  S.  Gallen.  In 
this  room  the  work  of  illuminating  was  also  carried  on.  For  the  rest,  although 
not  the  sole  centres  of  work  or  education  for  artists,  the  monasteries,  from  the 
great  extent  to  which  art  was  used  for  ecclesiastical  purposes,  were  certainly 
the  chief  places  for  their  meeting  and  higher  training,  especially  north  of  the 
Alps,  where  the  lingering  influence  of  antiquity  was  feebler  than  in  the  south, 
and  the  clergy  were  the  great  depositories  of  learning  and  classical  tradition. 

Bishops,  abbots,  and  other  dignitaries  of  the  Church  were  the  great  patrons 
of  art.  They  suggested  the  works  to  be  undertaken,  and  superintended  and 
dictated  their  conduct.  When,  however,  we  find  an  inscription  or  a  passage 
in  a  chronicle  naming  any  such  high  personage  as  the  author  of  a  work  of  art, 
and  even  when  using  the  expression  fecit  in  connection  with  him,  this  means 
not  that  he  was  the  actual  artist,  but  merely  that  he  gave  occasion  for  the 
work,  commissioned  it,  or  paid  for  it.  But  such  patrons  were  in  many  cases 
experts  also,  and  occupied  themselves  with  the  technical  processes  employed  in 
carrying  out  their  orders  ;  sometimes  introducing  new  methods  ;  sometimes 
themselves  practising  one  or  another,  or  several  at  once  ;  for  the  culture  of  the 
Middle  Age  was  many-sided,  and  its  craftsmanship  knew  nothing  of  the  division, 
in  our  sense  of  the  words,  of  labour.  S.  Bernward,  bishop  of  Hildesheim,  is  the 
most  brilliant  example  of  a  monk  highly  skilled  in  art  at  the  beginning  of  this 
epoch.  The  fact  that  he  was  a  learned  man,  devoted  to  the  "  nobler  studies," 
justifies  in  the  eyes  of  his  biographer  Thangmar  the  love  he  bore  to  the  "  lesser, 
the  so-called  mechanical  arts."     First  of  all,  Bernward  was  a  master  of  penman- 


MEDLEVAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD.  255 

ship,  and  as  illuminating  and  writing  were  so  closely  connected,  he  also  practised 
to  admiration  the  art  of  painting.  He  attempted  other  arts  as  well,  such  as 
working  in  metal,  goldsmith's  and  jeweller's  work,  though  he  did  not  always 
succeed  to  the  point  of  complete  mastery  in  them  all.  But  he  had  all  these  arts 
carried  out  in  his  workshops  by  skilful  pupils,  whom  he  instructed  and  superin- 
tended, allowing  them  also  to  accompany  him  on  his  travels  to  court,  that  they 
might  extend  their  knowledge  and  observation. 

Works  of  this  kind  were  undertaken  by  the  monks  for  the  service  of  the 
Church  and  glory  of  the  Most  High.  Commercial  views,  ideas  of  material  gain 
and  competition,  never  came  into  question.  Individually  they  worked  with 
technical  precision  and  faithful  diligence,  in  joyful  freedom  from  material  cares, 
but  also  entirely  without  the  true  spontaneous  impulse  which  animates  a  man's 
entire  personality  and  braces  to  the  highest  point  every  power  of  his  nature. 
Their  productions  were  held  in  honour,  regarded  as  a  pride  of  their  church,  and 
often  thought  worthy  of  mention  in  written  records.  Ecclesiastical  discipline 
extended  itself  also  to  lay  artists  when  they  were  employed  upon  work  destined 
for  church  purposes. 

Next  to  the  encouragement  given  to  art  by  the  Church,  we  must  remember 
that  given  by  the  Court.  Courtly  magnificence  called  in  the  powers  of  art 
both  to  minister  to  its  own  luxury  and  to  furnish  religious  offerings  and  dona- 
tions. Bishops  stood  in  close  and  continual  relations  to  the  Court  ;  the\'  were 
the  highest  dignitaries  of  the  kingdom,  the  most  influential  statesmen  and 
supporters  of  the  throne  ;  the  Court  was  the  assembling  point  where  all 
the  costliest  treasures  were  to  be  seen,  where  the  best  models  from  distant 
countries  were  to  be  studied,  and  from  whence  new  artistic  impulses  flowed 
forth  to  the  various  seats  of  ecclesiastical  power  and  activity. 

Of  the  artistic  education  disseminated  by  the  monasteries  we  have  evidences 
in  writings,  as  well  as  in  the  works  of  art  themselves.  The  tradition  was,  in 
part,  a  literary  one  ;  rules  and  recipes  were  handed  down,  copied,  collected  and 
classified,  by  generation  after  generation.  The  most  important  compilation  of 
this  kind  is  the  ScJiedida  diversaruvi  artium  of  Theophilus,  which  Lessing  was 
the  first  to  estimate  at  its  proper  value.  The  earliest  manuscript  of  this  book,  in 
the  library  at  Wolfenbuttel,  dates  as  far  back  as  the  twelfth  century.  The 
author  calls  himself  in  the  preface  humilis  presbyter,  a  humble  priest.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  he  was  a  German,  as  we  find  occasional  German  expressions 
in  the  Latin  text.  The  name  of  Theophilus  is  most  likely  assumed.  Accord- 
ing to  a  statement  in  a  seventeenth-century  handwriting  on  the  title-page  of  the 
second  oldest  manuscript  of  the  book,  preserved  in  the  Royal  Library  at  Vienna, 
the  author  was  a  Benedictine  monk  called  Rugerins.^  Theophilus  differs  from 
the  author  of  the  Mount  Athos  in  this,  that  he  does  not  treat  of  the  style,  sub- 
jects, or  arrangement  of  pictures,  but  only  of  technical  processes,  and  of  the.se  in 
the  most  various   branches  of  art  and  art-industry.      The  first  book  refers  par- 


256  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

ticularly  to  painting ;  dealing  with  pigments,  their  preparation  and  mixture,  and 
their  application  according  to  what  it  is  proposed  to  represent,  and  including 
painting  on  parchment,  that  is  miniature-painting,  as  well  as  painting  on  wall 
and  panel.  The  author  also  speaks  of  the  preparation  of  gold  leaf,  the  laying 
on  of  gold  or  silver,  and  incidentally  of  the  preparation  of  tinfoil.  The  vehicle 
recommended  for  miniature-painting  is  gum-water  for  most  colours  ;  for  Spanish 
green,  unmixed  wine  ;  for  minium,  white  lead  ;  for  carmine,  yolk  of  egg.  Walls 
are  to  be  painted  not  by  the  method  properly  caWed  /n'sco,  that  is  on  a  freshly- 
laid  preparation  of  wet  lime,  but  on  a  lime  preparation  that  has  been  allowed 
to  dry  and  then  been  slightly  damped  again.  Lessing  assumed  that  oil-painting 
was  practised  as  early  as  the  time  of  Theophilus  ;  but  it  was  only  known  for 
coating  surfaces,  as  in  house-painting,  and  not  for  properly  artistic  works.  The 
second  book  treats  of  glass-painting  in  connection  with  glass-manufacture. 

Another  receipt-book  of  some  importance  is  that  of  the  so-called  Ajionymus 
Bernensis,  unfortunately  only  a  meagre  fragment.  It  contains  the  hints  of 
an  unknown  author  on  vehicles,  especially  on  distemper  prepared  with  egg, 
which  is  but  slightly  touched  by  Theophilus,  and  also  on  the  colouring  of 
initial  letters.  The  editor  of  this  treatise  considers  its  author  to  have  lived  in 
the  ninth  century ;  but  the  handwriting  belongs  to  the  eleventh.  In  the 
treatise  entitled  "  Heraclius  on  the  colours  and  arts  of  the  Romans,"  the  two 
first  books,  which  are  in  verse,  may  be  assigned  to  the  tenth  century.  The 
third  book,  which  is  a  prose  addition  of  the  twelfth  or  thirteenth  century,  is  the 
only  one  that  treats  of  painting.^ 

Although  the  nations  of  the  Western  world  were  formed  into  separate  states 
from  the  middle  of  the  ninth  century,  and  from  that  time  forth  had  a  distinct 
historical  development,  it  will  be  best,  in  a  general  survey  of  mediaeval  painting, 
to  divide  the  objects  of  our  study,  in  the  first  place,  according  to  the  technical 
class  to  which  they  belong,  and  only  in  the  second  place  according  to  nation- 
ality. It  is  true  that  strong  distinctions  of  style  occur  between  different 
nations,  and  even  between  different  populations,  districts,  and  localities  in  the 
same  nation.  But  these  distinctions  are  not  so  prominent  in  painting  as  in 
architecture.  The  unity  of  Christendom,  which  was  the  ruling  fact  of  the 
Western  world  during  this  period,  was  no  mere  ideal  conception,  it  was  a  vital 
reality.  Art  in  this  age  shows,  more  than  anything,  that  the  elements  of 
culture  are  the  same  everywhere. 

It  is,  however,  intelligible  enough  that  Germany,  the  seat  of  the  Imperial 
power,  the  nation  politically  predominant,  should  be  somewhat  in  advance  of 
other  countries  in  the  development  of  her  arts,  although  the  Romance  nations  were 
the  heirs  of  an  older  civilisation.  For  the  present  we  shall  find  the  other  nations 
— France,  England,  Spain — holding  a  secondary  place.  Italy  last  of  all,  from 
her  pecu]iar  position  in  relation  to  the  arts,  demands  to  be  considered  by  herself. 


\ 


\ 


CHAPTER   II. 

MINIATURES.^ 

Germany  before  a.d.  1050,  especially  the  Saxon  Court;  intellectual  revival  under  Otho  I.  ;  corre- 
sponding revival  of  the  manual  arts — Examples  of  the  debased  condition  of  average  miniature-painting  in 
the  tenth  century — Example  of  a  better  class  of  work  under  classical  influence — Conspicuous  improvement 
due  to  encouragement  of  Saxon  Court — Italian  influence  discernible  in  new  style — Influence  derived  from 
intercourse  and  rivalry  with  Byzantium — Examples  of  the  new  taste  in  the  libraries  of  Paris,  Gotha, 
Munich,  and  Trier — Appearance  of  Greek  inscriptions  in  these  MSS.  ;  but  not  on  that  account  the 
work  of  Greek  hands — Character  of  their  decorative  designs — Character  of  their  figure  designs — List  of 
subjects  illustrated  in  the  three  Gospel-books  of  Munich,  Gotha,  and  Trier — Later  MSS.  illustrating 
the  same  movement ;  Gospel-books  written  for  the  Emperor  Henry  II. — Other  examples  from  Cologne, 
Hildesheim,  etc. — Example  from  Regensburg — Other  MSS.  painted  for  Henry  II. — Gospel-book  of 
Henry  IV.  at  Cracow — Decline  of  miniature-painting  with  decline  of  Empire — France  ;  French 
miniature-painting  comparatively  rude  in  this  age — Examples  from  Auxerre  and  Noailles — Examples  from 
Limoges  and  S.  Sever — Rigid  style  prevalent  till  near  the  close  of  twelfth  century — Spain  ;  crude  style 
akin  to  the  Irish  and  early  Frankish  long  prevalent — Assimilation  to  Southern  French  style  in  thirteenth 
century — England  ;  influence  of  Carolingian  work  from  the  ninth  century  ;  new  and  improved  Anglo- 
Saxon  style — Character  of  this  style  ;  examples — Examples  of  a  special  school  at  Winchester — Trans- 
formation of  this  style  after  the  Norman  conquest — The  Netherlands  ;  character  of  Netherlandish 
work  determined  chiefly  by  German,  and  in  a  less  degree  by  French  and  English  influence — Examples 
— Ger>lany  after  a.d.  1050 ;  degeneracy  of  German  work  at  this  date — Popular  and  provincial 
schools — Example  of  Bohemian  work — Revival  under  the  house  of  Hohenstaufen — The  destroyed 
Horijis  deliciariwi  of  the  Abbess  Herrad  of  Landsperg — Example  from  Bruchsal — Example  from  Salz- 
burg— Examples  from  Saxony — From  Brunswick — Thirteenth  century  ;  appearance  of  a  new  taste  in 
figures — New  taste  in  initials — Introduction  of  fantastic  motives — Their  place,  origin,  and  significance — • 
MSS.  containing  pen-drawings  only — Illustrated  MSS.  of  profane  poetry — MSS.  executed  by  the  monk 
Conrad  of  Scheiern — Division  of  labour  between  scribe  and  illuminator — The  scribe  Heldebert  and  the 
mouse. 

I.  Germany  before  a.d.  1050,  especially  the  Court  of  Saxony. — In 
Germany  an  intellectual  revival  began  under  the  kings  of  the  house  of  Saxony 
The  first  task  of  these  energetic  rulers  was  to  set  the  shattered  empire  again  on 
firm  foundations,  to  keep  down  separatist  tendencies,  to  ward  off  the  incursions 
of  the  Hungarians  ;  besides  which  the  duty  was  imperatively  forced  upon  Otho 
I.  of  interposing  in  the  chaos  of  Italy  and  of  reinstating  the  Imperial  authority 
at  Rome.  And  it  was  as  early  as  the  reign  of  this  great  sovereign  that  there 
sprang  up  a  new  culture,  which,  as  in  tiic  time  of  Charles  the  Great,  was  based 
upon  the  stud)'  of  classical  antiquit)'.  Learned  Italians,  like  Gunzo  of  Novara 
and  Liutprand  of  Cremona,  were  attracted  to  the  Court  ;  German  ecclesiastics 
in  like  manner  betook  themselves  to  classical  studies.  At  the  same  time  a 
stricter  discipline  was  enforced  within  the  Church,  and  set  a  limit  to  the  passion 

2  L 


2s8  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

for  enjoyment  and  ostentation  among  the  members  of  the  spiritual  body. 
Archbishop  Brun  of  Cologne,  a  brother  of  Otho  I.,  represented  the  highest  culture 
of  the  time  alike  as  scholar,  statesman,  and  priest.  The  Imperial  Chancery 
became  a  nursery  for  distinguished  bishops,  and  in  the  Court  schools  a  carefully 
educated  younger  generation  grew  up.  Otho  I.  had  grown  to  man's  estate  as  a 
warrior,  but  his  son  and  grandson,  the  second  and  third  Emperors  of  the  name, 
received  a  literary  education.  Greek  was  studied  whenever  there  was  an  oppor- 
tunity of  doing  so,  as,  for  instance,  through  Brun  of  Cologne,  or  the  Duchess  Hed- 
wig  of  Swabia — for  women  also  had  their  share  in  the  new  learning.  It  was  not 
always  easy  to  bring  Christian  ideas  into  harmony  with  the  study  of  antiquity, 
which  was  therefore  approached  with  scruple,  but  nevertheless  bore  good 
fruits.  The  skilled  Latinity  of  the  Carolingian  age  had  been  lost ;  the  new 
literature  which  was  now  springing  up  after  scores  of  years  of  intellectual 
abasement  was  but  slowly  and  painfully  able  to  assimilate  the  new  learning, 
and  in  form  often  remained  heavy  and  redundant  ;  but  it  had  the  advant- 
age of  treating  in  a  learned  language  popular  subjects  regarded  from  a 
national  and  patriotic  point  of  view  ;  of  this  the  most  striking  example  is 
furnished  by  the  historian  of  the  Saxons,  Witikund  of  Corvey.  The  new 
development  of  the  manual  arts  connected  with  this  intellectual  revival  took 
a  similar  direction. 

An  idea  of  the  condition  of  painting  in  the  tenth  century  may  be 
formed  from  a  Psalter  now  in  Stuttgart,  which  contains  a  great  number 
of  slightly  tinted  pen -drawings.  The  style  is  extremely  barbaric,  the 
short  figures  with  large  heads  and  shapeless  hands  stand  feebly  on  their 
legs  ;  the  colour  is  very  dirty,  still  the  action  is  always  lively  and  speak- 
ing to  the  eye,  though  often  vehement  to  exaggeration.  Antique  motives 
still  predominate  in  dress  and  furniture.  In  a  manuscript  at  Munich,  which 
contains  the  famous  prayer  in  old  High  German,  there  are  pen-drawings  from 
the  legend  of  the  Finding  of  the  Cross  which  are  still  cruder.  Some  slightly 
tinted  drawings  in  the  manuscript  of  Lucan  at  S.  Gallen  are  characteristic  of 
the  manner  in  which  scenes  from  profane  history  were  rendered.  Instead  of  a 
pictorial  arrangement,  a  map-like  treatment  of  the  scene  is  employed,  as  in 
Egyptian  painting  and  relief,  with  the  sole  object  of  telling  the  story  to  the 
eye.  In  the  picture  of  the  landing  and  death  of  Pompey  at  Pelusium,  the  sea 
with  its  conventional  wave-lines,  and  the  ship  with  its  figures,  are  drawn 
perpendicularly,  but  the  other  groups  are  drawn  out  on  three  tongues  of  land 
which  all  protrude  from  left  to  right  (Fig.  66).  At  the  same  time  the  incidents 
themselves  are  figured  in  a  lively  manner  enough.  Extremely  primitive  and 
harshly  coloured  are  the  pictures  in  a  Prayer-book  from  the  monastery  of 
Priim  at  Treves,  written  under  the  direction  of  the  abbots  Hilderick  {d.  A.D. 
993)  and  Stephan  (d.  A.D.  looi)  by  order  of  the  monk  Wicking.  Many 
reminiscences   of   Early    Christian   art   still    appear   in    these   slight    narrative 


MEDI.^VAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD. 


259 


pictures.      A  copious  productiveness  at  the  same  level  as  this  was  continued  into 
the  eleventh  century," 

But  even  before  tliat  time  we  find  a  striking  instance  of  the  influence  of 
antiquity  in  the  Gospel-book  of  S.  Ulrich,  bishop  of  Augsburg  {A.D.  923-973), 
now  in  the   Munich  Library.      The  Evangelists   are   depicted  here  with  much 


Fiji.  66. 


more  expression,  and  though  the  cast  of  the  drapery  is  weak,  the  hands  and 
feet  are  better  understood  ;  a  type  of  head  with  high  cheek-bones  and  wide 
staring  eyes  runs  through  the  work  ;  the  treatment  is  neat  and  the  modelling 
careful.  Gold  and  silver  are  used  in  the  thrones,  borders,  and  draperies,  red 
and  green  predominate  in  the  initials.*^ 

But  this  work  was  only  the  forerunner  of  a  new  phase  of  art  which  began 
in  the  course  of  the  tenth  century,  and  made  sudden  and  extraordinary 
progress    under    the    influence    of    superior    models.       Its    i)roductions    were, 


26o  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

as  in  the  Carolingian  period,  due  to  Court  influences,  and  came  into  existence 
in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  the  Imperial  house,  or  else  in  such  famous 
monasteries  as  stood  in  close  connection  therewith. 

In  the  time  of  the  Carolingians  German}-  had  received  the  classical 
tradition  from  Italy,  and  now  again,  under  the  Saxon  dynasty,  something 
was  assuredly  gained  by  a  renewed  intercourse  with  Italy.^  But  Italian  art 
was  too  dead,  and  had  fallen  away  too  much  technically,  for  its  influence  on 
other  races  to  be  decisive. 

A  certain  momentary  wave  of  Byzantine  influence,  which  came  over  the 
art  of  the  Saxon  Court,  was  on  the  other  hand  of  more  effect.  The  nations  of 
the  West  were  indeed  not  only  separated  b)-  distance  from  Byzantium,  but 
also  by  differences  of  ritual  and  manners  from  the  Greeks  in  general,  whose 
haughtiness  they  met  with  rough  aversion,  as  we  see  by  the  antagonism  and 
bitterness  expressed  in  the  report  of  Liudprand,  who  was  sent  by  Otho  I.  as 
an  ambassador  to  the  Byzantine  Court.  But  for  all  this  the  Western  world 
recognised  the  civilisation  and  artistic  skill  of  Byzantium,  and  the  precious 
products  of  that  skill  were  favourite  objects  of  commerce,  desired  and  treasured 
on  all  hands.  The  spirit  of  rivalry  inspired  by  Byzantine  models  seems,  how- 
ever, to  have  been  the  only  shape  in  which  the  influence  of  the  Eastern  capital 
made  itself  felt.  Traces  of  Greek  artists  having  actually  carried  on  their  work 
on  this  side  of  the  Alps  are  scarcely  to  be  found.  They  could  not  have  done  so, 
except  in  the  most  passing  and  occasional  wa)',  without  having  left  deeper  marks 
behind  them.  One  of  these  exceptional  cases  arose  when  Hedwig,  the  future 
Duchess  of  Swabia,  having  been  betrothed,  while  still  a  child,  to  a  Greek  prince, 
Greek  teachers  were  sent  to  teach  her  the  language,  and  with  them  a  Greek  eunuch 
to  paint  her  portrait.^*^  Moreover,  Greek  monks  made  settlements,  as  did  the 
Scotch,  in  various  regions  ;^^  and  some  also  travelled  singly  through  the  lands, 
and  sometimes  craved  hospitality  in  Western  monasteries.  It  is  always  possible 
that  among  such  wandering  monks  some  may  have  been  artists.  But  com- 
merce was  a  more  effectual  means  of  communication,  and  the  first  circumstance 
of  real  importance  for  the  spread  of  a  knowledge  of  Byzantine  art  in  Germany 
was  the  marriage  of  Otho  II.  with  the  Greek  princess  Theophano.  That  princess 
arrived  with  a  great  following  and  with  gorgeous  presents,  and  in  this  way  the 
more  refined  manners  and  customs  of  the  Greeks,  as  well  as  their  surprising 
skill  in  the  most  varied  branches  of  art,  were  brought  home  to  a  people  who 
were  already  beginning  to  awaken  under  the  intellectual  efforts  of  the  age. 
And  thus  in  the  works  produced  near  the  Court  a  new  taste  suddenly  sprang 
up,  while  elsewhere  the  established  art  systems  of  Germany  went  on  quietly  in 
their  old  way. 

The  new  taste  was  especially  to  be  noticed  in  the  ivory  carvings  of 
book-bindings  and  in  the  works  of  the  enameller  and  goldsmith,  as  well  as 
in    the    illuminations    of    a    number    of    manuscripts    which    were    principally 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD.  261 

executed  for  persons  of  the  royal  household.  The  oldest  of  these  is  perhaps  a 
Gospel-book  written  in  gold  letters,  now  in  Paris,  in  which  the  page  with  the 
initials  for  the  text  of  S.  Matthew  contains  four  gold  medallions  of  the 
three  first  rulers  of  the  house  of  Saxony — Henry  the  Fowler  (twice  over), 
Otho  I.,  and  Otho  11.^-  The  book  may  therefore  belong  to  the  time  of 
the  latter  Emperor,  or  of  his  son.  With  a  book  executed  for  Otho  II. 
at  ]\Iagdeburg,  having  his  own  and  his  Greek  wife's  portrait  on  the  cover, 
we  are  acquainted  only  through  the  account  given  b}'  Thietmar;''^  but  the 
}-oung  Otho  III.  and  his  mother  Theophano  appear  in  a  similar  manner  in 
chased  work  on  the  cover  of  a  Gospel-book  at  Gotha.^^  This  manuscript  is 
also  in  gold  letters,  and  is  even  richer  in  pictures  than  the  Paris  book,  and  not 
far  behind  it  in  artistic  merit.  Allied  to  both  these  is  a  book  of  the  same 
description  at  Munich,  with  a  large  dedicatory  picture  on  two  pages  facing 
each  other  (Figs.  6"]  and  6^).  On  the  right-hand  page  the  youthful  beard- 
less Emperor  is  on  his  throne,  with  two  bishops  on  one  side  and  two 
warriors  on  the  other  ;  on  that  opposite,  four  female  figures  advance  towards 
him  doing  homage.  These  are  personifications  of  Rome,  offering  tribute 
in  a  dish,  Gaul  with  a  palm  branch,  Germany  with  the  horn  of  plenty,  and 
Slavonia  with  a  golden  globe  or  disk.  The  book  is  one  of  two  manuscripts 
that  came  at  one  time  to  Bamberg  as  gifts  from  Henry  II.;  hence  the  picture 
had  generally  been  considered  to  be  the  portrait  of  Henry  ;  who  appears, 
however,  in  other  Bamberg  manuscripts  with  a  more  powerful  face  and  short 
full  beard.  Though  the  art  of  the  Middle  Ages  was  incapable  of  giving  an 
actual  portrait,  it  always  kept  to  one  particular  and  definite  t\'pe  for  each 
person,  so  that  we  must  take  this  for  a  portrait  of  Otho  HI.,  in  whose  case  the 
youthful  t\'pe  and  the  presence  of  Rome  as  one  of  the  subjugated  provinces  are 
exactly  in  place.^^  Finally,  to  the  same  group  belongs  the  Gospel-book  of 
Archbishop  Egbert  of  Trier  (.\.D.  977-993)  in  the  Public  Library  at  that  place  ; 
it  was  executed  at  Reichenau  b)'  the  monks  Kerald  and  Heribert,  who  are 
represented  in  the  dedicatory  picture  handing  over  the  book  to  the  archbishop. 

One  of  the  characteristics  of  these  books  is  that,  besides  Latin,  we  also  find 
Greek  inscriptions  occasionally  on  the  pictures  ;  but  they  are  generally  incorrectl}' 
written,  as  on  the  first  page  of  the  Gospel-book  in  Paris.  In  the  Gotha  manu- 
script the  page  with  the  initials  to  the  Gospel  of  S.  Luke  contains  copies  of 
Greek  coins  with  portraits  of  the  Emperor,  and  the  name  of  Constantino 
incorrectly  spelt  in  the  surrounding  inscription  (KnN(  "W.WHIN).  An  unusual 
amount  of  decoration  appears  in  this  manuscript,  Ik  mi  the  large  coloured 
imitations  of  Oriental  stuffs  with  patterns,  (jrnaincnts,  and  conxcntional  animals 
which  cover  two  whole  pages  at  the  beginning  of  each  Gospel.  It  is  ajiparcnt 
that  the  artist  was  not  indeed  a  Greek,  but  a  Western,  who  had  before  his 
eyes  the  suinpuious  productions  of  Bjv.antium. 

The  architectural  borderinir  of  the  canons,  the  character  of  which  had  been 


262 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


determined  even  In  Early  Christian  art,  is  treated  here_with  particular  beauty 
and  precision,  and  exhibits  already  in  some  of  its  details  the  richest  motives  of 
Romanesque  architecture.  The  columns  are  slender,  with  gold  or  coloured 
shafts,  sometimes  fluted  either  perpendicularly  or  spirally,  and  are  often  carried 
by  two  animals  or  by  crouching  human  figures  ;  in  the  capitals,  strongly  pro- 
jecting calyx-forms  prevail ;  the  acroteria  or  finials  above  the  arches  and  pediments 
are    formed    of   symmetrically    arranged    animals — lions,    panthers,   pheasants, 


Fig.  67. 

herons,  foxes  gnawing  at  grapes,  and  also  of  stone-cutters  at  their  work,  vine- 
dressers, archers,  and  Centaurs.  The  richest  architectural  designs  are  those 
with  arches,  screens  and  dog-tooth  mouldings,  and  curtains  looped  back, 
which,  as  in  the  Paris  manuscript,  are  raised  like  a  building  over  the  portrait 
of  each  Evangelist,  and  contain  their  symbols  in  the  tympanum  (Fig.  69). 
The  thrones,  too,  are  magnificent,  like  that  of  the  Emperor  Otho,  a  chair  with 
crossed  legs  and  animals'  heads  (compare  Fig.  68).  The  desks,  cushions,  and 
carpets  are  always  executed  with  the  greatest  care,  but  the  perspective  puzzles 
the  artist,  as  in  the  Paris  manuscript  for  instance,  where  S.  John's  chair  appears 
in  profile,  but  the  chair  back  is  in  front  view.      The  framework  of  the   pictures 


MEDLi:VAL  PAINTING- CENTRAL  PERIOD.  263 

is  also  formed  with  Romanesque  leaf-work  on  a  coloured  meander  pattern,  and 
often  adorned  with  medallions  containing  personifications  of  the  four  Cardinal 
Virtues,  the  four  Elements,  the  four  Quarters  of  the  heavens.  Besides  all 
these  various  kinds  of  ornament,  the  fashion  of  adorning  initials  with  leaf- 
work,  scrolls,  and  fantastic  animals — a  fashion  developed  in  the  Carolingian 
school  and  unknown  to  the  Byzantines — continues  to  prevail  in  forms  of  much 
richness  and  beaut\-.      All   this  shows  distinctly,  not  that    Greek  artists   had  an 


Fig.  68. 

actual  share  in  these  works,  but  onl\-  that  the  new  tendency  of  the  age 
towards  the  higher  forms  of  luxur}-,  together  with  the  influence  of  imported 
models,  had  led  to  a  rc\-ival  of  art.  The  character  of  the  picture  subjects 
confirms  this.  Their  technical  method  shows  a  great  improvement  ;  the  old 
mode,  which  was  ratlu-r  one  <>f  drawing  than  painting,  is  replaced  b\'  genuine 
bod\'-col()ur  i)ainting  in  a  lii^ht  and  rather  cool  ke\-,  w  ith  much  use  ot  broken 
tints  and  delicate  feeling  for  harmonx-  of  coloui-  ;  tiie  flesh  tones  are  \-ellowish, 
with  a  moderate  amount  of  shading.  The  oKl  unccrtaint}-  in  the  propoitions 
has  been  overcome;  in  the  slender  wcll-formetl  figures  antl  classical  style  of  the 
drapery,  as  well  as  in  the  technical  improvements,  we   may  perhaps   detect   the 


264 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTINCx. 


Ch.  's^-Tzef'iGf '^^^  J 


Fig.  69. 


signs  of  a  study  of  Byzantine  models.  The  drapery  is  best  understood  in  the 
Paris  manuscript,  elsewhere  it  is  often  petty  in  detail,  and  consists  of  a  too 
uniform  and  mechanical  simplification  of  antique  motives.  The  same  models 
'leem  to  be  indicated  by  the  dignity  of  the  single  figures,  which  suits  with  the 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD.  265 

religious  earnestness  of  this  time.  The  heads  are,  no  doubt,  generall}-  uniform 
and  without  beauty.  But  compared  with  the  utter  want  of  expression  of  the 
faces  in  Carolingian  work,  the  Christ  enthroned  in  the  Paris  manuscript  (page  7) 
seems  touched  with  a  certain  nobiHty  of  inspiration  ;  the  Evangelists  too,  here 
as  in  other  examples,  are  solemn  and  impressive  ;  John  even  wears  a  certain 
aspect  of  emotion,  as  if  penetrated  by  a  sudden  illumination.  The  S.  Mark 
with  his  monkish  tonsure,  priestly  robes,  and  the  features  almost  of  a  portrait, 
asserts  at  the  same  time  an  attitude  of  independence  towards  the  Byzantines 
(Fig.  69).  Neither  is  there  much  in  common  with  the  Greek  t}-pe  in  the 
monstrously  projecting  jaws  of  the  personified  Nations  in  the  dedicatory  picture 
of  the  Munich  manuscript  (Fig.  67).  In  the  three  manuscripts  we  have  men- 
tioned, as  well  as  in  most  of  those  we  shall  connect  with  this  group,  Christ  is 
of  the  youthful  beardless  type  which  had  also  prevailed  in  Carolingian  work, 
while  in  Byzantine  art  the  bearded  type  had  gained  the  ascendancy. 

The  three  Gospel  manuscripts  at  Munich,  Gotha,  and  Trier  contain  a 
great  number  of  narrative  illustrations.  In  the  Gotha  manuscript  each  single 
figure  of  an  Evangelist  is  preceded  by  four  pages  containing  pictures  arranged 
in  three  rows.  Before  S.  Matthew  come  scenes  from  the  childhood  of  Christ 
until  the  beginning  of  his  ministry;  before  S.  Mark,  his  ministry  and  miracles; 
before  S.  Luke,  his  parables  ;  and  before  S.  John,  his  death  and  resurrection. 
In  the  two  other  books  the  compositions  are  as  a  rule  on  a  larger  scale,  but 
the  choice  of  subjects  is  much  the  same,  and  even  the  individual  motives  very 
similar.  Though  the  scheme  of  iconography  followed  in  these  books  corre- 
sponds in  great  part  with  that  laid  down  in  the  Mount  Athos  manual,  we  must 
regard  its  systematic  adoption  as  due  not  so  much  to  any  revival  of  Byzantine 
influence  (since  a  similar  scheme  already  occurs  occasionally  in  work  of  the 
Carolingian  period)  as  to  the  growing  spirit  of  system  in  the  theology  of  the 
age.  In  order  to  gain,  once  for  all,  a  connected  view  of  the  customary  selec- 
tion of  New  Testament  subjects,  or  scheme  of  Gospel  iconography,  so  far  as 
its  consideration  falls  within  our  present  scope,  let  us  give  a  tabular  view  of 
the  Gospel  illustrations  contained  in  these  three  important  manuscripts.  The 
initial  G.  stands  in  the  following  table  for  Gotha,  M.  for  Munich,  and  T.  for  Trier. 

The  Annunciation  (G.  M.  T.) 

The  Marriage  with  Joseph  (M.),  or,  as  a  more  frequent  alternative,  The 
Visitation  (G.  T.) 

The  Dream  of  Joseph  may  next  be  introduced  (T.) 

The  Nativity.  The  Virgin  lies  on  a  bed,  and  close  to  her  the  Child  in 
swaddling  clothes,  and  of  a  disproportionately  large  size  (G.  M.  T.)  The 
feelings  of  Joseph  are  distinctly  expressed  by  his  brooding  attitude  (T.)  ;  some 
buildings  usually  stand  for  Bethlehem  ;  tlie  ox  and  ass  U^ok  out  from  the  stall. 
The  Angel  appearing  to  the  Shepherds  is  always  depicted  in  combination  with 

this  scene. 

2  M 


266  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

The  Adoration  of  the  Magi  takes  places  under  a  stately  edifice  ;  they  wear 
short  tunics  and  boots,  and  generally  crowns,  instead  of  the  earlier  Phrygian  caps 
(G.  M.  T.)  With  this  may  be  combined  their  following  of  the  star  (T.),  or 
their  dream  and  departure  (G.)      Here  follow  occasionally 

The  Presentation  in  the  Temple  (G.  T.) 

Joseph's  Dream,  and  the  Flight  into  Egypt  (G.) 

The  Massacre  of  the  Innocents.  Herod  is  always  represented  on  his  throne, 
giving  the  order  for  the  deed  (G.  M.  T.)  This  scene  presented  difficulties  to 
the  artists  of  that  day,  from  the  vehemence  of  the  action ;  but  although  we  find 
many  of  the  gestures  cramped,  and  the  naked  children  .often  seem  to  have 
escaped  unhurt,  still  there  are  moving  incidents  of  grief  in  some  figures  of  half- 
naked  despairing  women. 

Christ  teaching  in  the  Temple  (M.  T.) 

The  Baptism  of  Christ,  in  which  the  waves  of  the  river  rise  like  hills  about 
the  body  of  Christ  up  to  his  chest,  and  generally  two  angels  wait  with  his 
clothes  on  the  bank  (G.  M.  T.) 

The  Temptation,  depicted  in  separate  incidents.  The  conception  of  Satan 
is  not  an  ignoble  one:  he  is  in  human  form,  but  winged  and  of  a  tawny  brown 
colour,  and  wearing  only  a  purple  chlamys  (G.  M.)  The  actual  ministry  of 
Christ  next  begins  with 

The  Calling  of  the  Apostles,  and  the  Marriage  at  Cana  (G.  T.) 

The  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  This  composition  is  divided  into  two  rows  ; 
in  the  upper  sit  the  Apostles  besides  the  Saviour,  in  the  lower  the  people,  both 
men  and  women  (M.)      Next  follow  the  miracles  of  Christ,  and  first 

The  Healing  of  the  Leper  (G.  M.  T.)  and  his  Purification  (M.) 

The  Centurion  of  Capernaum  before  Christ  (G.  T.)  This  is  a  scene  of  much 
dramatic  expression,  and  may  be  followed  by 

The  Healing  of  the  nobleman's  son  as  a  separate  scene  (T.) 

The  Healing  of  the  blind  man  (G.  T.) 

The  Healing  of  the  man  born  blind  (G.  M.  T.)  The  pool  of  Siloam,  in 
which  he  has  to  wash,  is  visible  in  the  rear  as  a  high-walled  fountain  with  a 
spout  in  the  shape  of  a  peacock,  inscribed  Aqueductiis  Syloae. 

The  Canaanitish  woman  (G.  T.),  with  an  admirable  expression  of  modest 
supplication  in  (T.) 

The  Healing  of  the  Woman  with  an  Issue  of  Blood  (G.  M.  T.) 

The  Man  sick  of  the  Palsy  at  the  Well  (G.  T.) 

The  Man  sick  of  the  Palsy  who  was  let  down  through  the  roof  (G.) 

The  Man  sick  of  a  Dropsy  (G.  M.) 

The  Mother  of  Peter's  wife  (G.  M.) 

The  Man  with  the  withered  hand  (T.) 

The  Ten  Lepers,  of  whom  only  the  Samaritan  returns  to  give  thanks  (G.) 


MEDL^VAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD.  267 


The  Driving  out  of  the  Devils,  who  are  seen  riding  in  the  Hvehest  manner 
on  the  backs  of  the  swine,  and  jumping  with  them  into  the  water  (G.  M.  T.) 

Tlie  Raising  of  Jairus's  Daughter  (T.) 

The  Raising  of  the  Widow's  Son  (G.  M.) 

The  Miracle  of  the  Loaves  and  Fishes,  which  is  composed  alwaj-s  in  a 
s\-mmetrical  or  monumental  manner  (G.  M.  T.) 

Christ  sleeping  on  the  ship,  with  dark  horned  heads  as  personifications  of 
the  Winds  (G.  M.'  T.) 

Christ  walking  on  the  waves  and  stretching  out  his  hand  to  Peter  (T.)  ; 
and  lastl}-, 

The  Raising  of  Lazarus,  who  appears  still  wrapped  like  a  mummy  in  the 
grave-clothes,  and  standing  upright  in  the  grave,  while  Mary  and  Martha  kneel 
beside  it,  and  people  in  astonishment,  including  one  who  holds  his  nose,  com- 
plete the  design  (G.  M.  T.)  Of  the  remaining  incidents  of  the  life  of  Christ 
on  earth  we  find  first  of  all 

His  meeting  with  the  Woman  of  Samaria  (G.  T.) 

The  Woman  taken  in  adultery  (G.  T.) 

Mary  Magdalene  wiping  the  feet  of  Christ  with  her  hair  in  the  presence  of 
Martha  and  several  Apostles  (M.  T.) 

Christ  seated  in  the  midst  of  his  Apostles  reproving  the  Pharisees  (T.) 

Christ  driving  the  money-changers  from  the  Temple  (M.  T.) 

Christ  blessing  Peter  in  the  presence  of  the  other  Apostles,  and  delivering 
the  keys  to  him  (M.) 

Christ  weeping  for  Jerusalem;  and  below,  in  the  same  picture,  the  siege  of 
Jerusalem  and  a  mother  killing  her  child  (M.) 

Christ  praising  the  widow's  mite  (M.) 

Christ  declaring  to  the  Jews  that  he  will  build  the  temple  again  in  three 
days.      A  stately  edifice  is  shown  in  the  background  (T.) 

Christ  blessing  the  children.  A  group  nobly  and  symmetrically  composed 
beneath  an  arch  (M.) 

The  Transfiguration  ;  in  which  Christ  stands  with  his  hand  solemnly 
raised.  The  hand  of  God  appears  above  him,  and  the  amazement  of  the 
disciples  is  strikingly  expressed  (M.)  Lastly,  among  the  Gospel  stories  is 
included 

Herodias  dancing,  and  the  Beheading  of  John  the  Baptist  (M.)  Among 
the  parables  comes  first 

The  Good  Samaritan  ;  the  different  incidents  of  the  parable  being  united 
in  one  picture  (M.) 

The  parable  of  the  Vineyard,  which  is  depicted  in  its  several  episodes  with 
the  greatest  detail  (G). 

The  parable  of  the  Wedding-Feast.  The  feast  itself  occupies  the  upper 
part  of  the  picture,  while  in    two  tiers   below  arc  the  guests  who   have   excused 


268  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

themselves  from  coming,  together  with  the  objects  furnishing  them  with  their 
excuses  ;  on  the  other  side  are  the  halt  and  maimed  being  called  in  (G.) 

The  story  of  Dives  and  Lazarus  is  told  with  similar  fulness  :  beneath,  the 
scene  with  Dives  at  table  and  Lazarus  at  the  door,  two  lower  tiers  showing  the 
deaths  of  both,  the  soul  of  Lazarus  in  Abraham's  bosom,  and  the  soul  of  Dives 
in  hell  (G.)      The  incidents  of  the  Passion  run  as  follows  : — 

Christ's  entry  into  Jerusalem.  Zaccheus  is  always  to  be  seen  in  the  tree, 
and  the  artist,  having  no  idea  of  perspective,  has  no  other  way  of  depicting  the 
people  who  cast  their  clothes  in  the  way  than  by  placing  them  in  a  lower  row 
from  whence  they  seem  to  be  reaching  upwards  (G.  M.  T.) 

Christ  washing  the  disciples'  feet.  This  is  one  of  the  finest  of  the  compo- 
sitions. A  stately  building  forms  the  background  ;  the  motives  of  the  Apostles, 
who  are  very  well  grouped,  are  extremely  varied  ;  in  the  figure  of  a  disciple 
loosening  his  sandals  a  completely  classical  motive  appears,  and  the  deprecating 
gesture  of  St.  Peter  is  full  of  life  (N.  T.)  The  Last  Supper  does  not  appear  in 
any  of  these  three  books. 

The  agony  in  the  Garden  of  Olives  (M.) 

The  betrayal  of  Christ,  with  the  wounding  and  healing  of  Malchus  ;  the 
expression  of  Peter's  anger  and  Christ's  sorrow  are  often  life-like  enough 
(G.  M.  T.) 

Christ  before  Caiaphas  (G.  M.  T.) 

Peter  denying  Christ  (G.  M.  T.) 

Christ  before  Pilate  (M.  T.) 

The  scourging  of  Christ  (G.  T.) 

Christ  crowned  with  thorns  (G.) 

Christ  presented  to  the  people,  in  a  large  dramatic  composition  (T.) 

The  bearing  of  the  Cross,  so  designed  as  to  show  Simon  of  Cyrene 
advancing  by  himself  with  the  cross,  and  Christ  led  behind  him  (G.  T.) 

The  Crucifixion  (G.  M.  T.)  The  main  features  of  this  subject  correspond 
in  all  three  books  ;  the  cross  of  Christ  is  painted  gold,  and  is  further  distin- 
guished by  its  shape  from  the  simple  T-shaped  crosses  of  the  malefactors.  All 
three  crucified  figures  are  clothed  in  long  tunics  ;  that  of  Christ  is  generally 
purple  ;  he  is  fastened  to  the  cross  with  four  nails,  without  any  footboard  ;  over 
the  cross  appear  disks  with  the  weeping  heads  of  the  Sun  and  Moon  ;  at  the 
foot  of  the  cross  two  soldiers  cast  lots  for  Christ's  raiment  ;  on  one  side 
appear  Longinus  and  Stephaton  with  the  sponge  and  spear,  or  one  of  them  at 
least ;  a  little  farther  off  stand  Mary  and  John  ;  lastly,  two  servants  at  either 
side,  with  hammers  to  break  the  legs  of  the  thieves,  may  complete  the  composi- 
tion (G).  Together  with  this  last  episode,  however,  those  of  Longinus  and  the 
death  of  Christ  are  sometimes  carried  into  a  second  picture  by  themselves  (T.) 

The  Descent  from  the  Cross,  with  Joseph  and  Nicodemus  (G.  M.  T.) 

The  Entombment  (G.  M.  T.) 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD.  269 

The  Maries  at  the  grave  ;  an  angel  in  a  long  tunic,  with  the  right  hand 
uplifted  in  the  action  of  prophecy,  the  left  holding  a  sceptre  (G.  M.  T.) 

Various  appearances  of  Christ  after  the  resurrection,  as  the  walk  to 
Emmaus,  the  supper  at  Emmaus,  the  Saviour  appearing  to  the  Apostles,  the 
manifestation  at  the  Sea  of  Tiberias  (T.,  and  in  most  cases  also  G.)  Mary 
Magdalene  at  the  feet  of  Christ  in  the  Garden  (G.  M,  T.) 

The  Incredulity  of  Thomas  (G.  M.  T.)  After  the  resurrection  the  Saviour 
is  generally  dressed  in  a  white  tunic  and  light  green  cloak  (T). 

Christ  charging  the  Apostles  (M.  T.)  ;  and  lastly, 

The  Ascension  (G.  T.),  a  large  and  nobly-designed  piece.  Christ,  with  the 
sceptre  and  cross  in  his  left  hand,  floats  aloft  within  a  inatidorla,  and  grasps 
with  his  right  hand  the  hand  of  God,  which  draws  him  upwards  ;  beneath  are 
two  angels  pointing  with  solemnity  to  the  Saviour,  and  Mary  and  the  eleven 
Apostles  stand  by  with  expressive  gestures  (T.) 

The  fresh  impulse  thus  given  to  German  painting  in  the  days  of  Otho  II. 
and  Otho  III.  continued  for  a  time,  though  not  with  the  same  force.  Allied  to 
the  group  of  manuscripts  we  have  discussed,  though  rather  more  mechanical 
in  treatment,  is  a  second  richly-adorned  group,  presented  by  King  Henry  II. 
to  the  cathedral  of  Bamberg.  The  execution  of  the  architectural  ornament  of 
the  canons  and  borders  is  the  same,  but  a  chessboard  pattern  appears  in  some 
places  as  background  ;  the  initials  are  in  the  same  style,  but  more  coarsely 
executed.  The  figures  are  often  more  attenuated,  with  small  heads  and 
feebler  motives.  The  conception  of  sacred  subjects  is  generally  the  same  ; 
the  youthful  t\-pe  of  Christ  predominates,  but  no  longer  exclusively.  Greek 
inscriptions  still  appear  on  the  pictures,  but  more  rarely.  The  dedicatory  pic- 
tures are  still  the  most  striking.  In  the  great  Evangeliarium,  the  dedicatory 
verses  at  the  head  of  which  expressly  mention  Henry  as  donor,  we  find  that 
king  and  his  consort  Kunigunde  receiving  the  crown  of  life  from  the  Saviour  ; 
at  the  sides  are  Peter  and  Paul,  and  below,  once  more,  the  Nations  bringing 
tribute ;  but  this  time  Germany  stands  upright  in  the  middle  between  two 
figures  which  probably  symbolise  Gaul  and  Rome,  while  six  other  nations  are 
represented  by  busts.^^  In  a  missal  still  preserved  in  the  Bamberg  Library  we 
find  the  king  presenting  the  book  to  the  Virgin  Mary.  There  is  a  beautiful 
missal  at  Munich,  in  which  King  Henry,  represented  as  before  with  a  short 
brown  beard,  receives  the  crown  of  life  from  a  bearded  Christ;^"  two  angels 
present  the  s^vord  and  spear,  while  S.  Ulrich  and  S.  h^mmeram  bear  up  the 
king's  arms  on  cither  side  (Fig.  70).  The  presence  of  the  latter  saint  makes  it 
probable  that  this  work  was  produced  in  .St.  lunnicrain  at  Regcnsburg,  and  this 
is  the  more  likely  from  the  fact  tliat  a  second  dedicatory  picture  is  evidently 
copied  from  a  corresj)onding  picture  in  the  Codex  Aureus  of  Chaiks  the  Bald, 
which  was  already  at  that  time  at  S.  l^nuiUTaui.  The  king  is  here  enthroned 
under  a  magnificent  canopy  between  two  retainers  and  four  personified  Nations. 


27° 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


t\g.  70. 


In  two  other  Gospel-books  at  Munich  the  Evangeh'sts  are  very  imposing  by 
the  dignity  of  their  motives,  especially  in  the  second,  which  also  contains  a 
typical  representation  of  a  singular  kind.^*^      Out  of  an  elliptical  glory  grow  four 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD.  271 

medallions  ;  that  at  the  sides  contains  busts  in  a  classical  style  of  Sun  and  Moon, 
that  at  the  top  a  grey-haired  bearded  head  standing  for  the  Sky,  and  that 
below  an  Earth  with  long  hair  and  hanging  breasts.  Above  the  Earth,  and 
borne  up  b}'  her  raised  arms,  grows  the  tree  of  life,  with  mushroom-shaped 
leaves,  and  on  it  stands  the  majestic  figure  of  the  youthful  Christ,  holding  the 
branches  with  his  left  hand,  and  the  disk  of  the  \\orld  with  his  right.  The 
angles  contain  the  symbols  of  the  four  Evangelists,  which  are  supported  b)' 
the  four  rivers  of  Paradise,  personified  in  busts  of  a  t\-pe  corresponding  to 
that  of  the  Earth.  This  is  a  symbol  of  Christ's  sacrifice,  since,  according  to 
the  legend,  the  cross  on  which  Christ  was  crucified  was  made  from  a  branch  of 
the  tree  of  life,  which  Seth  had  planted  on  the  grave  of  Adam.  In  later  times 
the  cross  was  often  represented,  even  in  pictures  of  the  Crucifixion,  as  the  green 
stem  of  a  tree  with  branches.  In  the  manuscript  of  this  group  which  contains 
the  greatest  number  of  narrative  pictures  from  the  Gospels,^'*  older  models  are 
general]}-  followed,  and  only  a  few  new  scenes  arc  introduced,  as  the  Last  Supper, 
the  appearing  of  the  Angel  to  Zacharias  and  the  birth  of  John,  the  death  of  the 
Virgin,  and  the  Last  Judgment. 

Similar  tendencies  are  shown  by  a  book  of  the  same  class  from  S.  Gereon 
at  Cologne  f^  by  three  others,  very  roughly  executed,  in  the  cathedral  treasur}-  at 
Hildesheim  founded  by  S.  Bernard,  one  of  which  was  finished  A.D.  loi  i  by  the 
writer  Guntbald  ;  also  by  a  fifth,  of  finer  quality  but  unknown  origin,  at  Munich.-^ 
There  is  a  remarkable  endeavour  in  these  works  to  produce  splendid  architectural 
designs,  within  which  the  figures  are  arranged  in  severely  regular  composition. 
The  first  picture,  showing  Christ  enthroned  between  Peter  and  Paul  within  a 
rich  border,  is  followed  by  one  of  Mary  in  the  Temple,  a  portico  with  four 
columns,  level  architrave,  and  low  pediment.  From  above  an  angel  floats  down 
towards  Mary,  thus  making  of  the  picture  at  the  same  time  a  Presentation  and 
an  Annunciation  ;  and  on  the  plinth  of  the  building  Joseph's  dream  is  further 
depicted.  In  the  next  picture,  which  has  no  border,  the  bearded  figure  of  a 
king  delivers  written  scrolls  to  fourteen  persons.  It  is  doubtful  whether  this  is 
meant  for  Christ  with  the  Apostles  and  Evangelists,  or  God  the  P'ather  with  the 
Prophets.  In  the  birth  of  Christ  the  bathing  of  the  Child  is  represented.  The 
stoning  of  Stephen,  the  Outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit  (in  a  hall),  the  trial  ami 
execution  of  Peter,  and  several  scenes  in  a  two-storeyed  building,  are  spcciall\- 
vvorth  notice. 

A  very  important  and  peculiar  example  of  the  work  of  this  period  is  a  Gospel- 
book  from  the  Abbey  of  Niedermiinster  at  Regensburg  {Rotislnni),  on  which  Greek 
as  well  as  Latin  inscriptions  occur  on  tin-  pictures,  which  in  each  case  fill  a  wliolc 
page,  and  have  completely  the  character  tjf  tapestry  designs,  a  character  similar 
to  that  which  we  shall  presently  have  to  studx-  in  Romanesque  and  earlx' Gothic 
painted  glass.'-^-  A  centre-piece  with  the  principal  picture  is  separated  from  the 
wide  border,  which  is  interrupted  at  the  angles,  and  generally  also  half-way  up 


272  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

each  side,  by  smaller  round  or  square  pictures  let  in.      Antique  leaf-work,  broad 
bands  of  inscriptions  with   explanatory  leonine  verses,  borders  with  geometrical 
ornaments,  form   the   framework,  between  which  conventional  lions,  griffins,  and 
so  forth,  are  used  for  filling  in,  and  in  some  cases  buildings  appear.      The  figures 
are  ^v•ell   proportioned,  only  the   hands   are   often   too   large,  and,  in  accordance 
with   the   spirit   of  that  style,  there   is   very  little  modelling  or  shading.      The 
colours   are    laid   on   evenly   and   solidly,   and   harmonise  with    the   abundance 
of  gold  in  the   backgrounds   and  borders.      The  first   page   contains   the    Hand 
of    God   in    a   triangle,   in    neighbouring  compartments    four    crowned    female 
figures    in    repose,   and    in    the    angles    of    the    frame    the    Cardinal    Virtues, 
with    their    usual    attributes.      On    the    second    page,    the    Madonna    with    the 
draped    Child   is   enthroned   in   the  central    round,  beneath   which   appears   the 
abbess    of    the    convent   presenting  to   her    the    book.       A   monogram    shows 
that    this   is    Uota,   a  contemporary   of    Henry    H.,   and   sixth   abbess   of    the 
convent,  which  was  founded  A.D.  960.      Allegorical  demi-figures  appear  in  four 
medallions   and  four  square  corner  compartments  :   these  are  probably  Virtues 
again ;  some  are  crowned  and  some  have  banderoles  with  inscriptions.     The  third 
page  is  still   more  striking  :   the  Saviour  is  on  the   cross   in  a  purple  robe  with 
the  priest's   stole,  a  crown  on  his   head,  and  thus  triumphant  though  in  agony  ; 
he  wears   a   beard,  although   appearing   in   smaller  pictures   in   the   same   book 
according  to  the  youthful  type  ;   the  feet  are   nailed   separately  to  a   large  foot- 
board.     Beneath  the  cross   stand  two   figures  ;   on  one  side   a  crowned  woman, 
symbolising  Life,  looks  upward  with  raised  hands,  and  on  the  other  Death,  with 
bandaged  mouth,  and  broken  sickle  and  spear,  a  gaping  wound  in  his  shoulder, 
is  in  the  act  of  sinking  to  the  ground.      In  two  semicircles  in  the  border  we  see 
Law  departing  with   her   scroll   and   sacrificial   knife,  and   Grace   crowned    and 
bearing  the  sacramental  cup  above   her  crown.      The  contra-position  of  Church 
and  Synagogue,  so  frequent  in  later  pictures  of  the  Crucifixion,  is  thus  already 
to  be  found  here,  only  each  is  represented  by  two  separate  symbols,  the  Jewish 
dispensation  by  Death  and  the  Law,  the  Christian  by  Life  and  Grace.      In  the 
angles  of  the  border  appear,  above,  the  Sun  and  Moon,  and  below,  the  rent  veil 
of  the  temple  and  the  opened  graves  (Fig.  71).     In  the  next  picture  the  border 
only  is  arranged  as  before,  while  the  inside  is  designed  so  as  to  give  more  space 
to  the  composition.      Here,  the   founder  of  the  monastery,  the   sainted    Bishop 
Erhard  of  Regensburg,  stands  at  the  altar  with  an  ecclesiastic,  under  a  ciborium, 
which  is   drawn  in  very  childish  perspective.      The   pictures  of  the  Evangelists 
are  purely  decorative.     Over  the  circle  that  encloses  them  appear  their  symbols, 
and  below  them  is  one  of  the  rivers  of  Paradise :   the  corners  of  the  border  con- 
tain small   biblical   scenes.      The   pages   containing   rich  initial    letters  are   also 
furnished  with  borders  of  the  same  kind.      The   precision  of  the  workmanship, 
and  the  taste  with  which   the  style,  once  adopted,  is   carried   out,  renders  this 
work  one  of  the  most  precious  memorials  of  the  period. 


MEDLEVAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD. 


^73 


l-ig.  71. 


1  liis  character  of  work  comes  to  a  close  witli  some  examples  executed  in  the 
early  days  of  the  Franconian  d)-nasty  (a.D.  1034-1  i  25),  as  for  instance  the  Evan- 
geliariuui  of   Henry  II.  in  Brcint  11,  from  llic  abbey  of  Kchternach.-''      That    the 


2  \ 


274  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

same  tradition  still  endured  here  which  had  formerly  inspired  the  Gotha  manu- 
cript,  is  shown  b}-  the  numerous  pictures  from  the  Gospels  ;  among  which  there 
are  also  several  of  the  parables.  The  youthful  t\'pe  of  Christ  is  still  maintained. 
The  two  opening  pictures  represent  the  visit  to  Echternach  of  Queen  Gisela 
and  her  son  Henry  III.  The  two  final  subjects  are  a  view  of  the  monastery 
as  a  stately  hall,  with  two  monks  writing,  and  a  dedicatory  picture  of  the  abbot 
appearing  before  the  monarch  on  his  throne.  The  manuscript  must  have  been 
executed  before  his  coronation  as  Emperor  A.D.  1 046,  for  the  inscriptions  in  the 
picture  only  give  him  the  title  of  King,  and  celebrate  him  as  being  in  the  flower 
of  his  age,  which  indeed  could  scarcely  be  inferred  from  his  portrait.  The 
second  of  these  inscriptions  runs — 


and  the  last- 


Heitiricton  regem  ittvenili  Jiore  Jittetitem, 
Ad  landet)i  regni  conservat  gratia  Christi. 

Hie  rex  Heitiricics  niilli  pieiate  secujidtis, 
Regnwn  itistitia  regit  et  pietate  paterna. 


A  book  of  the  same  class  at  Berlin,  having  on  the  last  page  the  portrait  of 
a  king  on  his  throne,  with  his  armour-bearer,  and  a  monk  presenting  him  with 
the  book,  probably  refers  to  the  same  Emperor  ;  though  unfortunately  his  face 
is  just  the  part  that  has  suffered  most,  but  the  hair  and  beard  can  still  be  seen, 
and  are  unusually  black,  which  would  be  appropriate  to  his  surname  of  "  Henry 
the  Black."  Farther  on  are  twenty-three  other  pictures,  some  vignettes  and 
some  larger  pictures,  chiefly  biblical  scenes,  with  plain  circular-  borders.  The 
Saviour  on  the  cross  is  still  characteristically  represented  without  a  beard  (Fig. 
72),  although  he  appears  with  a  beard  elsewhere  in  the  same  book  ;  he  still 
wears  a  long  tunic  as  in  the  former  manuscript,  and  seems  not  to  be  hanging 
or  even  fastened  with  nails  to  the  cross  ;  Mary  and  John  stand  on  either  side. 
The  heads,  large  out  of  all  proportion,  and  staring  eyes,  are  ugly,  and  even 
frightful  in  expression.  The  cross  is  coloured  green  and  blue,  and  the  ground 
purple.  The  types  are  thoroughly  barbaric,  the  hands  large,  and  the  colours 
general!)'  broken,  with  yellowish  flesh-tints  and  reddish  or  greenish  shadows. 
Compared  with  earlier  manuscripts,  we  find  here  a  very  obvious  decadence.-^ 

More  important  and  less  barbaric  is  a  Gospel-book  in  the  cathedral 
treasury  at  Cracow,  executed  for  Henry  IV.  at  S.  Emmeram  in  Ratisbon. 
On  the  first  page  the  sovereign  sits  unattended  on  his  throne,  in  a  short  tunic, 
with  the  pallium,  and  a  crown  similar  to  that  in  the  picture  of  Otho  III.  at 
Munich  ;  the  characteristics  by  which  he  is  known  are  a  large  moustache  and 
the  hair  cut  straight  over  his  forehead  ;  the  arms  stiffly  raised  in  a  symmetrical 
position  hold  up  the  imperial  globe  and  a  short  sceptre.  Then  follow  chiefly 
in  two  rows  under  simple  round-arched  arcading,  archangels,  various  saints,  three 
ancestors  of  the  monarch — namely  King  Henry  (Henr}'  II.  i"),  the  Emperor 
Henry   (Henry   III.  .'),   and    King    Conrad    (Conrad    II.  ?),    S.   Wolfgang    and 


MEDLEVAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD. 


275 


several  other  bishops  and  abbots  of  Bavaria,  and  of  Ratisbon  in  particidar. 
S.  Emmeram  occurs  three  times.  The  Redeemer  in  the  uiandorla  is  of  )-outhful 
tj'pe,  but  as  Saviour  on  the  cross  he  is  bearded,  the  cross  is  of  sih'er,  and  has 
a  large  footboard.  The  design  is  characterised  b>-  broad  round  heads  with 
short  noses,  fat  hands,  weak  movements,  and  mechanical  drapery  ;  a  s\-stcm  of 
green  clods  represents  the  ground. 

Thus  we  find  this  school,  of  which  the  activity  was  put  forth  essentially  in  the 
service  of  the   reigning  dynasty,  and  which  had  its   seats  at  a  {g.\^  of  the  chief 


Fig   72. 


-./. ,^  X y 


monasteries,  lasting  just  as  long  as  the  greatness  of  the  Empire  itself  remained 
unbroken.  Latterly  we  have  seen  it  show  symptoms  of  decline.  Instead 
of  advancing  step  by  step,  its  first  productions  were  the  best.  This  is  easily  ex- 
plained, inasmuch  as  the  school  took  its  origin  not  from  spontaneous  popular 
impulse,  but  from  the  deliberate  patronage  of  privileged  classes.  Nevertheless 
it  at  first  yielded  some  striking  results — results  of  which  the  (|uah't\-  was  affected, 
no  doubt,  by  foreign  models,  but  affected  in  a  degree  which  uc  need  not  exag- 
gerate. \Vc  have  seen  that  this  art  was  not  in  an)-  sense  a  Byzantine  art,  and 
that  Byzantine  elements  came  in  fact  but  little  into  question.  The  luxur\-  of 
Court  and  Church,  indeed,  encouraged  Byzantine  importations,  and  on  ni;m\'  ot 
the  splendid  bindinc^s  of  these  manuscripts  we  find  goldsmith's  work,  enamel,  and 


2  76  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

ivory-carving  of  Eastern  origin.  And  whatever  could  be  learnt  from  the 
superiority  of  the  Greek  scribes  in  the  dexterities  and  traditions  of  their  craft 
was  gladly  assimilated,  but  assimilated  in  connection  with  an  original  mode  of 
treatment. 

The  art  which  we  have  been  studying  joins  on,  then,  at  first,  with  the 
earlier  Carolingian  work  ;  it  progresses  farther  in  the  same  path  :  it  absorbs  the 
tradition  of  the  Early  Christian  period  with  its  classical  elements  ;  it  surpasses 
in  feeling  and  technical  accuracy  anything  of  which  the  ninth  century  had  been 
capable.  Inspired  by  the  great  political  development  of  the  German  Empire 
and  the  new  impulse  to  intellectual  culture,  it  brings  forth  works  which  distance 
alike  what  had  gone  before  and  what  followed  next  after, 

II.  France. — At  the  beginning  of  the  Romanesque  period,  France  was 
more  backward  than  Germany.  The  degeneracy  of  the  later  Carolingian 
period  reflects  itself  in  the  barbarism  of  its  paintings.  The  Empire  of 
Charles  the  Great  broke  up  under  separate  feudal  lords.  The  most  pros- 
perous departments,  like  Provence,  became  for  a  time  independent  territories. 
Norman  invaders  from  over  seas  established  themselves  at  the  mouths 
of  the  great  rivers ;  there  was  no  power  to  drive  them  away,  and  their 
assimilation  could  only  be  accomplished  gradually.  So  sharp  were  the 
antagonisms  between  the  various  populations,  that  even  the  stronger  rule  of  the 
Capetians  could  but  slowly  promote  the  cause  of  unity.  Although  a  vigorous 
life  displa}^ed  itself  at  this  time  in  French  architecture,  in  which  the  special 
characteristics  of  the  different  provinces  were  strikingly  brought  out,  yet  the 
capacity  for  pictorial  art  was  very  much  lower,  alike  in  the  north,  which  is  richer 
in  Germanic  elements,  and  in  the  south,  where  Latin  traditions  were  at 
the  same  time  finding  a  noble  expression  in  the  art  of  building.  Painting 
in  solid  body-colour  disappears  in  French  illuminated  manuscripts  from  the 
end  of  the  tenth  century.  The  pictures  are  limited  to  rough  pen-drawings, 
with  flat  harsh  colouring,  and  little  shading  in  the  faces  ;  there  is  no  attempt 
at  modelling,  but  only  patches  of  red  colour  roughly  laid  on.  Barbaric 
feeling  appears  in  the  uncouth  figures  with  large  extremities,  childish  gestures, 
and  empty  faces  with  staring  eyes.  Even  such  German  books  as  the 
Stuttgart  Psalter  are  superior  to  these. 

The  Commentary  of  Haymon  on  Ezekiel,  written  by  Heldric,  abbot 
of  S.  Martin's  at  Auxerre  A.D.  989-1010,  is  characteristic  of  the  style. 
Its  colour  is  dull  and  dirty,  gold  is  not  employed  ;  and  echoes  of  the  Irish 
taste  still  remain  in  the  ornament.  A  folio  Bible  in  four  volumes  from 
Noailles  stands  on  about  the  same  level,  both  as  to  colouring  and  drawing  ; 
it  has  a  great  quantity  of  pictures  arranged  in  several  rows,  many  of  which 
however,  have  been  cut  out.^''  At  the  beginning  is  figured  the  Globe, 
with     personifications     of     Day    and     Night,    figures     nearly    nude     carrying 


MEDLEVAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD.  277 

on  their  heads  the  disks  of  the  Sun  and  Moon  ;  beneath  them  Chaos 
(Abyssiis)  shown  as  water  with  fish  in  it,  and  above,  a  human  head.  Adam 
and  Eve  appear  in  the  following-  picture,  deplorable  figures  out  of  all  pro- 
portion ;  in  the  picture  of  the  Fall,  the  feet  and  head  of  Eve  are  seen  in 
profile,  and  the  body  and  pendant  breasts  in  full  front ;  the  figures  are 
alternately  very  short  or  absurdly  long.  The  ground  beneath  their  feet  is 
indicated  in  a  manner  that  had  become  common  to  the  Romanesque  style  in 
other  countries  too.  But  the  treatment  is  especially  barbarous  in  this  case  ; 
the  ground,  drawn  in  wavy  lines,  breaks  itself  up  here  and  there  into  separate 
clods  of  earth,  green  or  coloured,  on  the  tops  of  which  the  figures  walk  about. 
In  the  initials  as  well  as  in  the  architectural  ornaments  we  see  the  working  of 
a  disordered  fancy,  especially  addicted  to  monstrous  animals. 

More  tolerable  is  a  Bible  from  Saint-Martial  at  Limoges,  with  pictures  in  tiie 
initial  letters,  and  a  rather  more  severe,  though  already  ascetically  dry,  mode  of 
drawing  in  the  figures.^*^  This  begins  soon  to  be  the  standard  mode  of  ornamen- 
tation for  Bibles,  and  is  maintained  all  through  the  Middle  Age;  but  it  seems  to 
be  more  general  in  France  than  elsewhere.  The  pictures  are  chiefly  limited  to 
the  filling-in  of  the  large  initial  letters  at  the  beginning  of  each  book.  The 
capital  I  in  the  first  verse  of  Genesis  generally  covers  a  whole  page,  and  con- 
tains separate  medallions  with  the  incidents  of  the  Creation,  and  sometimes 
also  the  Fall,  with  Christ  on  the  cross  by  way  of  allusion  to  the  Redemption. 
Scenes  with  only  a  few  figures  open  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament  ;  and 
some  particular  Psalms  {Beatus  vir,  Doiiiuius  illnininatio  iiiea,  Quid  gloriaris, 
Sah'um  vie  fac,  Exultate,  Cantate,  Dixit  Doniinus,  Dixit  iiisipicns,  and  so  on) 
have  their  established  initials,  with  figures  representing  ahva)s  the  same 
subjects.  At  the  beginning  of  the  Prophets,  Gospels,  and  Epistles,  a  picture  of 
the  author  is  always  to  be  found  in  the  capital  letter.  A  fragment  of  a 
twelfth-century  Bible  is  thus  ornamented  ;  also  a  New  Testament  from  S. 
Martin  of  Limoges  belonging  to  the  same  period,  but  rather  more  advanced  ;-" 
in  this  the  initial  at  the  head  of  the  Gospel  according  to  S.  Luke  contains  the 
Magdalene  anointing  the  feet  of  Christ,  the  J  of  S.  John's  Gospel  has  the 
baptism  of  our  Lord,  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  book  are  canons  enclosed 
with  architecture  of  a  severe  st}le,  as  well  as  busts  of  Christ  and  the  Apostles 
in  medallions  let  into  the  spandrils.  The  motives  are  crude,  the  style  stiff  and 
unwieldy,  and  the  expressions  painful.  Without  being  on  a  higher  artistic 
level,  an  Apocalypse  from  Saint-Sever  in  Gascony  shows  at  least  more  richness 
of  colour,  and  an  abundance  of  singular  paintings. 

All  attempts  to  change  the  Ruile  into  a  Severe  st\lc  turn,  in  P'rance,  to 
rigidity  ;  and  this  \\c  also  find  to  be  the  case  in  liic  monumental  sculpture  of 
the  most  widely  separated  provinces,  until  the  close  of  the  twelfth  century 
— until  the  beginning,  therefore,  of  the  Gothic  st)le.  This  might  seem  at 
first  sight  surprising  in   a  country  which  made   such   great  and  rapid   advances 


278  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

in  architecture,  if  the  paintings  of  the  time  did  not  themselves  show  us  that 
the  fault  lies  precise]}'  in  this  exclusive  predominance  of  the  architectural  spirit. 
Among  the  same  class  of  manuscripts,  a  rich  twelfth-century  missal  from  the 
abbey  of  S.  Denis  deserves  mention.-^  The  first  picture,  with  the  Saviour 
and  angels  in  the  inaiidorla,  shows  an  apparently  beardless  type,  or  at  least 
with  only  a  thick  dark  outline  to  the  chin,  but  the  face  is  not  youthful.  The 
Saviour  on  the  cross  is  naked,  bearded,  and  with  the  figure  much  distorted  ; 
Mary  and  John  are  in  the  usual  attitude  of  mourning  with  one  arm  raised 
to  the  face.  The  figures  are  attenuated,  the  hands  large  as  before,  the  eyes 
small,  with  high  arched  brows,  the  drapery  poor,  without  expression.  An 
advance  upon  earlier  works  shows  itseli  first  in  the  coloufing,  and  in  stronger 
shading  and  modelling.  In  the  ornamentation  a  return  is  perceptible  to  the 
better  traditions  of  Carolingian  times  ;  scrolls  in  gold,  red,  and  black, 
predominate  in  the  borders,  and  coloured  foliage,  in  which  recourse  is  less 
frequently  had  to  fantastic  shapes  of  brutes,  in  the  rest  of  the  ornament.  At 
this  stage  stood  the  art  of  painting  at  S.  Denis,  shortly  before  the  abbey  was 
destined  to  become  the  chief  centre  of  the  movement  which  brought  about 
a  new  epoch  of  art  in  France,  under  its  great  statesman-patron  Suger. 

III. — Spain.  A  style  of  illumination  corresponding  to  the  Irish  and  ancient 
Frankish  style  was  introduced  into  Spain  by  the  Visigoths  and  long  maintained 
itself  there,  although  the  figure-paintings  did  not  rise  beyond  a  ver\-  primitive 
stage.-'^  The  initials,  \\hich  form  the  chief  ornaments  of  these  books,  still  preserve 
the  same  antiquated  st}-le,  even  in  the  eleventh  centur\-.  The}-  are  formed  of 
scroll-work,  animal  forms — especially  fish,  dogs,  birds — some  leaf-work,  and  a 
few  other  motives,  such  as  imitations  of  weapons.  A  cross  often  appears  as  title- 
page,  with  the  Alpha  and  Omega  depending  from  its  arms  as  ornaments,  and 
enclosed  by  an  architectural  border,  the  columns  and  arches  of  which  are  entirely 
finished  off  in  scrolls.  The  preference  for  the  horseshoe  arch  is  to  be  explained 
b}-  the  influence  of  Hispano-Moorish  architecture.  The  figures  are  childishly 
crude  in  proportions,  as  well  as  in  draperies  and  movement  ;  most  of  the  heads 
are  too  small,  the  legs  pitiful,  and  usually  seen  in  profile  while  the  body  is  in 
full  front.  Large  initials  of  the  simplest  kind  occur  in  the  Martyrology 
written  (a.D.  919)  at  the  monastery  of  San  Pedro  de  Cardeua.  Peculiarl\-  rich  in 
pictures  is  a  Commentary  of  the  Apocalypse  executed  by  Beatus  Presb}-ter  in 
the  abbey  of  Valcarado  (A.D.  i  109)  for  the  abbey  of  Sebastian  at  Gilos  in  the 
diocese  of  Burgos.^^  Here  one  of  the  principal  pictures  contains,  for  instance,  a 
representation  of  God  the  Father  after  the  type  of  Christ  on  his  throne.  This 
is  enclosed  in  a  circle  ;  in  an  upper  and  lower  frieze  are  the  four-and-twenty 
elders  ;  at  the  bottom  reclines  S.  John,  the  circumstance  of  whose  vision  is 
indicated  by  a  black  line  drawn  from  his  mouth  to  the  eagle  at  the  feet  of  the 
Lord.      The  youthful   type  of  Christ   appears   occasionally  in   the  work  of  this 


MEDLEVAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD.  279 

school.  The  limbs  scarcely  extricate  themselves  an}-\vhere  from  among  the 
fanciful  spiralh--folded  draperies.  The  nose  is  only  a  line  ending  in  a  curl, 
the  forehead  small  and  retreating  ;  the  gestures  of  the  gigantic  hands  are 
entirely  conventional,  and  there  is  no  attempt  at  modelling.  But  though 
drawing  and  colouring  recall  Irish  models,  they  do  so  in  connection  with  a 
feeling  for  architectural  form  unknown  to  the  Irish  designers. 

Then  begins,  just  as  in  architecture,  a  gradual  approach  to  the  st}le  of 
Southern  France,  as  we  see  in  an  Apocalypse  of  the  twelfth  century  at  Madrid  ; 
though  a  taste  for  the  ancient  style  continued  even  in  the  thirteenth  century, 
witness  a  Vulgate  written  A.U.  1240,  with  numerous  pictures  on  a  gold  ground  ; 
this  is  also  at  Madrid. 

IV.  England. — That  earliest  kind  of  Anglo-Saxon  work,  of  which  the 
character  had  been  determined  by  Irish  example,  scarcely  survived  the  ninth 
century.  At  this  period  Carolingian  influences  began  "to  prevail,  leaf-work  to 
be  used  in  the  ornamentation,  initials  to  be  designed  in  a  style  approaching 
the  Continental,  and  figures  to  be  no  longer  composed  of  fantastic  rolls  and  flou- 
rishes. Thus  began  a  second  period  of  Anglo-Saxon  art,  which  lasted  till  the 
eleventh  century,  and  the  creations  of  which  are  the  best,  next  to  those  of 
the  Court  artists  of  Saxony,  which  had  as  yet  been  produced  by  Western 
miniature-painting.  A  new  intellectual  life  had  arisen  in  England  since 
Alfred  had  become  the  saviour  of  his  people,  driving  from  their  strong 
places  the  Vikings  who  were  oppressing  the  land,  founding  a  national  king- 
dom, and  bringing  even  those  Danes  who  remained  behind  under  the  laws 
and  ordinances  of  his  dominion.  Alfred  himself  resuscitated  the  studies 
that  lay  so  low  ;  he  had  made  himself  master  of  the  highest  culture  of  the 
day,  and  taken  the  first  place  among  the  prose-writers  of  Germanic  tongue. 
Manuscripts  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  language,  or  Latin  books  with  Anglo-Saxon 
interlinear  glosses,  often  have  an  importance  for  the  history  of^art  not  second 
to  their  importance  for  the  study  of  language. 

Their  enrichment  consists  usually  only  of  drawings  made  with  the  pen 
in  black,  or  also  in  red,  blue,  or  violet,  sometimes  slightly  shaded  with  a  brush, 
but  with  a  scratchy  and  uncertain  treatment.  The  lanky  figures,  with  attenu- 
ated limbs,  lifeless  heads,  and  wild  fluttering  draperies  with  fidgett}-  creases  at 
the  edges,  are  often  exaggerated  in  their  movements  ;  but  with  all  this  rawness 
of  treatment,  the  compositions,  often  containing  man)'  figures,  show  a  surpris- 
in<r  number  of  lively  motives  and  happily-devised  incidents.  Examples  of 
this  style  maybe  found  in  the  later  parts  of  a  missal  painted  between  A.D.  959 
and  A.I).  979  for  Bishop  Lcofric,  which  contains  Carlovingian  elements  ;  in  a 
PsycJiomacJiia  u{  I'rudentius,  with- curious  pictures  of  battles  between  \'irtues 
and  Vices,  and  a  strange  design  for  the  ground,  half  wave-lines  and  half  a  sort 
of  acanthus   leaves  ;   also   in  an    Aratus   at   the   liritish    Museum    with   slightly 


28o  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

tinted  figures  of  the  Signs  of  the  Zodiac  ;  and  the  Pontifical  at  Paris  formerly- 
belonging  to  an  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.'^^  A  Psalter  in  the  British 
Museum,  and  a  metrical  paraphrase  of  Genesis  by  the  monk  Caedmon, 
are  remarkable  for  the  number  of  their  illustrations.''-  In  the  latter  the 
treatment  is  emphatically  barbarous,  though  at  the  same  time  our  interest 
is  roused  by  the  charm  and  fancy  shown  in  the  representations  of  the 
Creation  of  the  world,  the  rebellion  and  imprisonment  of  Satan,  the  Fall 
and  Expulsion. 

In  a  few  other  manuscripts,  besides  figure  designs  of  a  similar  character, 
rich  ornamentation  appears  in  the  borders  and  initial  letters,  with  a  more 
copious  emplo}'ment  of  conventionalised  leaf-work  ;  as  in  the  book  De  Virgiiii- 
tate  of  Bishop  Adhelm  of  Sherborne,  at  Lambeth  Palace,  and  in  the  Harleian 
Psalter  in  the  British  Museum.''^  In  these  we  find  distinct  traces  of  Carolingian 
taste.  The  same  phenomenon  is  the  more  apparent  in  a  small  number  of 
other  manuscripts,  and  may  easily  be  explained  by  the  close  relation  subsisting 
between  the  English  royal  house  and  the  Prankish  kingdom.  The  charter  of 
King  Eadgar  for  a  new  minster  at  Winchester  (a.D.  966)  has  not  only  Carolin- 
gian small  characters  instead  of  the  English  characters,  but  shows  also 
a  close  resemblance  to  the  later  phases  of  that  style  in  the  dedicatory  picture 
of  Christ  in  the  viandorla  supported  by  four  angels,  below  a  portrait  of  the 
king  between  S.  Peter  and  S.  Ebba.  The  resemblance  extends  even  to  the 
life-like  attitudes  and  weak  proportions  of  the  figures,  as  well  as  to  the  rude 
colouring  of  the  whole  picture,  with  its  purple  ground  and  beautiful  leaf-orna- 
ment twined  about  the  gold  flat  of  the  margin.^*  This  manuscript,  like  most 
others  of  the  same  type,  belongs  to  the  school  of  Winchester.  The  character- 
istics of  the  English  style  as  above  described  are  very  visible  in  them — the 
vehement  movements,  the  fluttering  coils  of  drapery,  and  so  on  ;  at  the  same 
time  they  show  a  more  than  usual  degree  of  Continental  influence,  and  a 
surprising  amount  of  architectural  feeling,  with  a  careful  system  of  painting 
in  body-colour,  with  refined  broken  tones.  The  masterpiece  of  this  style  is  the 
Benedictioiiale  of  yEthelwold,  Bishop  of  Winchester  from  A.D.  963-984.  It  was 
executed  by  his  chaplain  Godemannus  before  A.D.  970,  and  contains  thirty  large 
pictures.  Beautifully  composed  groups  of  the  Confessors,  holy  Virgins,  and 
Apostles  arranged  between  short  pillars  with  broad  foliage  capitals  and  very 
high  round  arches  or  steep  gables,  are  followed  by  pictures  from  the  Gospel 
stories,  of  which  our  illustration  reproduces  the  Ascension  (Fig.  73).  There 
are  also  Saints,  and  scenes  from  sacred  legend,  among  them  the  death  of  the 
Virgin.^^  Closely  allied  to  this  book  is  a  Gospel-book  at  Trinity  College, 
Cambridge  ;  and  also  a  missal  in  the  library  at  Rouen,  which  was  presented  to 
the  abbey  of  Jumieges  by  Robert,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  {d.  A.D.  1053),  but 
probably  had  been  written  much  earlier  in  the  new  minster  at  Winchester  under 
yEthelgar,  who  was  oromoted  from  that   see  to  the  archbishopric  of  Canterbury 


MEDLEVAL  PAINTING— CENTRA!.  PERIOD.  281 

A.D.  989.^*"     There  was  therefore  a  native  school  at  Winchester  which  represented 
the  best  English  painting  of  that  time. 

The  pecuHar  Anglo-Saxon  art  came  to  an  end  in  England  after  the  Conquest 
(a.D.  1066).  The  people  by  whom  it  had  been  nurtured  were  now  no  longer 
ruling,  but  ruled  over  ;  the   Norman  element  set  the  tone  among  nobles  and 


Fig.  73- 

clergy,  and  in  art  a  strong  leaning  began  to  manifest  itself  towards  the  French 
school.  Richer  ornamentation  and  fantastic  initials  came  into  fashion.  The 
technical  method  is  that  of  careful  body-colour,  sometimes  attaining  a  remarkable 
power  and  substance  ;  but  the  drawing  still  leaves  much  to  be  desired.  Exam- 
ples of  these  qualities  arc  the  Commentary  of  Jerome  on  Isaiah  at  Oxford  (end 
of  twelfth  century),  with  a  portrait  of  liugcj,  tlie  artist  who  ilkuniiialcd  it,  in  his 

2  u 


282  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

monk's  dress  ;  as  well  as  many  books  from  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth 
century  ;  such  as  the  Psalter  of  Robert  de  Lindesay,  abbot  of  Peterborough 
{d.  A.D.  1222)  ;  a  Bible  in  three  volumes  in  the  Library  of  S.  Genevieve  in 
Paris,  at  the  end  of  which  one  Mancrius  of  Canterbury  signs  himself  as  scribe  ; 
and  a  two-volume  Bible  in  the  BibliotJieque  Natioiiale ;  the  canons,  which 
are  placed  in  this  instance  at  the  head  of  the  New  Testament,  contain 
what  is  unusual  —  scenes  in  the  pediments  of  the  architectural  borders.-^" 
Among  the  fantastic  initials  we  find  a  capital  P  carried  along  by  a  bounding 
Centaur. 

V.  The  Netherlands. — The  greater  part  of  the  Netherlands  belonged  in 
this  age  to  the  Duchy  of  Lotharingia  {Lothringen,  Lorraine)  and  therefore  to  the 
German  Empire.  A  smaller  part  was  under  the  overlordship  of  France.  Accord- 
ingly, up  to  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century,  the  character  of  Nether- 
landish art  was  determined  in  the  main  by  Germany,  and  in  particular  localities, 
to  a  less  extent,  by  France.  Towards  the  end  of  the  tenth  century  we  also  find 
traces  of  English  taste  appearing,  as  in  a  Gospel-book  now  in  the  library  at 
the  Hague,  which  was  presented  to  the  abbey  of  Egmond  about  A.D.  977  by 
Count  Dietrich  the  younger  of  Holland  and  his  wife  Hildegart,  and  also 
in  a  great  psalter  at  Boulogne,  written  by  the  scribe  Heriveus  under  the 
abbot  Odbert  (A.D.  989-1008),  in  the  Abbey  S.  Bertin  at  S.  Omer.^^ 
Rich  borders  with  scroll-work,  Romanesque  pilasters  and  arches,  and  animals 
in  silver,  surround  the  borders  ;  figure  pieces,  drawn  for  the  most  part  with  the 
pen  and  slightly  tinted  on  a  ground  of  colour,  are  introduced  as  fillings-in  of 
the  fantastic  initials  :  in  design  and  drapery  they  are  akin  to  Early  English 
work.  In  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries,  however,  the  Continental  style  of 
painting  solidly  in  opaque  water-colour  found  its  way  to  the  Netherlands  also. 
The  execution  is  generally  rather  coarse,  and  the  attitudes  vehement,  as  for 
example  in  a  late  twelfth-century  manuscript  at  Paris  of  the  Moralia  in  Job  of 
Gregory.  The  Netherlandish  origin  of  this  book  is  proved  by  an  insertion  dated 
A.D.  I  2  1 7,  in  the  shape  of  a  schedule  of  property  with  names  of  Flemish  towns,  as 
Dort,  and  accounts  in  Flemish  money.  Only  some  of  the  pen-drawings  from  the 
book  of  Job  are  entirely  coloured,  a  few  others  partly.  In  spite  of  badly  propor- 
tioned figures,  large  hands,  and  heads  all  of  one  shape  with  crooked  noses,  an  en- 
deavour after  more  vigorous  treatment  and  natural  effect  may  be  perceived  in  the 
expressions  of  fear  and  sorrow,  as  well  as  of  the  demoniac  possession  of  Satan. 
A  missal  from  the  abbey  of  S.  Stavelot,  in  the  diocese  of  Liege,  is  of  a  higher 
class  ;■  it  contains  only  two  pictures  :  Christ  on  the  cross  between  the  Virgin 
and  S.  John,  and  the  Saviour  in  a  viandorla.  The  ornament  here  is  also 
simple,  consisting  of  mere  pen-drawings,  occasionally  with  slight  colouring  ;  but 
the  compositions  are  designed  with  architectural  severity,  and  the  heads — that 
for  instance  of  the  Moon  in  the  scene  of  the  Crucifixion — are  expressive. 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD. 


283 


VI.  Germany  after  a.d.  1050. — Side  by  side  with  the  distinguished 
productions  of  art  at  the  Imperial  Court,  there  had  flourished  all  along  in 
Germany  a  humbler  and  less  extensive  activit)-,  which  simpl}-  handed  on  the 
popular  artistic  tradition  of  the  tenth  century.  When  the  power  of  the  Empire 
had  been  weakened  during  the  long  minority  of  Henry  IV.,  and  afterwards 
shaken  to  its  foundations  by  the  war  of  Ecclesiastical  Investitures, — that  is  to 
say,  soon  after  A.D.  1050, — this  humbler  form  of  art  was  left  alone  in  possession  of 
the  field.  The  momentous  war  between  the  Empire  and  the  Papacy  had  its  effect 
upon  art  and  culture  in  the  countries  most  closely  involved  in  it.  No  change 
of  style  takes  place,  but  conception  and 
handling  alike  degenerate.  Ancient 
models  continue  to  be  repeated,  but  the 
artistic  incapacity  of  the  age  is  nowhere 
so  conspicuous  as  in  dealing  with  echoes 
of  antique  motives.  Personages,  actions, 
and  types  are  the  same  as  of  old — 
even  the  youthful  type  of  Christ  is  still 
commonly  maintained  ;  but  the  feeling 
for  form  is  more  deficient,  the  drapery 
poorer,  and  the  execution  more  mechan- 
ical. The  number  of  such  works  from 
the  second  half  of  the  eleventh  century 
and  first  half  of  the  twelfth  is  extraor- 
dinarily great,  and  their  origin  is  often 
well  ascertained.  Most  provinces  of 
Germany  are  represented  ;  including 
Westphalia,  Cologne,  the  Palatinate, 
German  Switzerland  (see  our  illustration 
of  a  David  from  the  Psalter  of  Notker 
Labeo  at  St.  Gallen),  and  Bavaria.'**' 

Even  the  frontier  territory  of  Bohemia  produced  at  this  time  so  important 
a  work  in  the  Romanesque  style  as  the  Evangcliarium  from  the  church  of  SS. 
Peter  and  Paul  on  the  Wischehrad,  now  in  the  University  Library  at  Prague. 
The  character  of  this  manuscript  agrees  entirely  with  the  German  productions 
of  this  period,  as  indeed  the  culture  and  art  of  Bohemia  were  mainly  German, 
and  among  the  clergy  especially  the  German  element  predominated.  That  the 
work  is  really  Bohemian  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  S.  Wcnzel  is  rcjjresented 
in  an  initial  letter  towards  the  end  of  the  book.  The  manuscript  begins  with  a 
page  containing  the  four  ICvangclists  under  a  round-arched  arcade  ;  the  next 
four  pages,  with  busts  from  ihc  Old  Testament,  and  one  at  llu:  end  with  a  bust 
of  Christ,  are  worked  into  patterns  like  the  decorations  of  a  painted  ceiling. 
Then    follow   Moses   before    the    burning   bush,   Aaron    at    the    altar,   a    riclil\- 


Fig-  74- 


284  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

apparelled  king  before  a  Romanesque  portico  to  symbolise  the  second  coming 
of  Christ,  the  "  Stem  of  Jesse,"  or  genealogical  tree  of  Christ,  and  then  twenty- 
nine  scenes  from  the  New  Testament,  generally  in  two  or  three  tiers  on  each 
page.  A  youthful  beardless  type  is  maintained  throughout  these  representa- 
tions, not  only  for  Christ  but  for  S.  Wenzel  and  also  for  John  the  Baptist. 
In  the  picture  of  the  Last  Supper  (Fig,  75)  the  Saviour  with  the  Apostles  is 
at  the  far  side  of  a  long  table,  Judas  sits  alone  in  front,  S.  John  lies  on  Christ's 
lap  like  a  child,  and  is  also  drawn  on  a  smaller  scale.  We  have  here  a  very 
lively  example  of  the  way  in  which  primitive  art,  when  it  sets  about  represent- 
ing an  action,  can  only  contrive  to  do  so  by  representing  the  successive 
moments  of  the  action  side  by  side.  Christ  and  Judas  dip  their  morsels  into 
the  dish  at  the  same  time  ;  but  with  his  other  hand  Judas  carries  to  his  mouth 
what  is  intended  to  be  the  same  morsel  after  it  has  been  dipped  ;  at  the  same 
moment  a  black  bird,  the  symbol  of  evil,  flies  into  his  mouth  with  it.  This 
work  is  striking  from  the  seriousness  of  the  motives,  in  spite  of  the  monotony 
and  coarseness  of  the  heads,  the  thick  outlines,  streaky  shadows,  and  energetic 
handling  in  body-colour.  The  solemn  action  of  raising  the  outspread  hand  is 
several  times  repeated.  In  the  Resurrection,  the  figure  rising  from  the  tomb  is 
surprising  for  boldness  of  intention  at  least,  however  little  understood  may  be 
the  treatment  of  the  nude.  A  rich  Prankish  court-dress  with  borders,  jewelled 
trimming,  and  buckle,  is  frequent  ;  even  Mary  or  the  angels  often  wear  it  in- 
stead of  the  traditional  antique  drapery.  In  luxuriance  of  ornamental  work, 
too,  this  book  belongs  to  the  richest  of  the  period. 

It  was  not  until  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century,  under  the  rule  of 
the  Swabian  house  or  house  of  Hohenstaufen  (A.D.  i  138-1254),  that  German 
art  took  a  new  departure,  which  in  architecture  culminated  in  the  great  dome- 
roofed  cathedrals  of  the  Rhineland,  and  was  not  without  its  results  in  the  other 
arts.  The  improvement  noticeable  in  painting  at  this  time  is  at  first  negative. 
The  repulsiveness  and  rudeness  characteristic  of  the  period  from  about  A.D.  1050 
to  A.D.  I  150  diminish  by  degrees.  The  proportions  are  no  longer  so  uncertain, 
the  extremities  less  ungainly,  the  hands  smaller  and  better  shaped,  the  feet  a 
little  firmer.  The  development  of  architectural  feeling  has  an  effect  upon  the 
conception  of  the  human  body,  which,  though  still  drawn  according  to  a  formal 
scheme,  shows  a  better  understanding  of  the  organism.  The  antique  traditions, 
which  had  kept  their  ground  hitherto,  are  now,  both  in  the  actions  and  the 
externals  of  costume,  completely  given  up  ;  but  this  was  no  loss,  as  they  had 
been  applied  with  continually  less  and  less  intelligence,  and  classicism  in  its 
last  degeneracy  had  been  merely  an  obstacle  to  the  free  play  of  fancy.  But 
more  especially  do  we  find  practice  giving  increased  certainty  of  hand  in  draw- 
ing and  painting,  and  independence  and  freedom  of  imagination  growing  along 
with  mastery  of  means. 

One  of  the  most  celebrated   illuminated   manuscripts  of  the  second  half  of 


MEDLEVAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD. 


^85 


286 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


the  twelfth  century^  was  the  "  Pleasure  Garden"  [HoTtus  DeliciaruiU)  of  Herrad  of 
Landsperg,  Abbess  of  the  convent  of  Hohenburg  in  Alsace.'*^  This  book  was  un- 
fortunately burnt  with  the  rest  of  the  contents  of  the  Strassburg  Library  during 
the  siege  in  1870  ;  but  we  are  justified  in  noticing  it  here,  as  it  is  well  known 
from  literary  criticisms,  and  partly  also  from  illustrative  publications.  The 
book,  in  which  were  found  the  dates  A.D.  i  159  and  1  175,  was  a  compendium 
or  encyclopaedia  of  desirable  knowledge  in  religious  and  secular  subjects,  com- 
piled as  a  handbook  for  the  education  of  young  girls  in  the  convent.     Whether  the 


^f^u 


Fig.  76. 


authoress  Herrad  took  any  part,  or  how  much,  in  the  illuminations  of  her  book  is 
not  certain  ;  but  they  were  done,  if  not  actually  by  her  own  hand,  at  any  rate  by 
her  suggestion  and  direction.  They  consisted  of  grandiose  exhibitive  representa- 
tions in  a  monumental  style,  such  as  Philosophy  wearing  the  garland  characteristic 
of  the  seven  Liberal  Arts,  besides  narrative  pictures  from  the  Old  Testament,  the 
Gospels,  and  the  Acts  ;  great  scenes  of  the  Judgment  Day  ;  allegories,  such  as 
battles  of  the  Virtues  and  the  Vices,  or  the  celestial  ladder,  from  which  all  those 
who  seek  to  climb  up  fall  away  through  temptation,  and  only  Christian  Love 
can  reach  the  goal.  Classical  motives  also  appeared  here  and  there  ;  for  in- 
stance, Ulysses  and  the  Sirens  as  a  symbol  of  temptation,  and  Sun  and  Moon 
personified  in  the  antique  manner  as  divinities  in  their  chariots.      In  the  scene 


MEDIJB:VAL  painting— central  period.  287 

of  the  Crucifixion,  Church  and  Synagogue  were  figured  this  time  as  riding,  the 
former  on  an  animal  with  four  heads  symbolising  the  four  Evangelists,  the 
latter  on  an  ass.  The  work  was  an  inexhaustible  mine  of  every  variety  of 
subject  which  at  that  time  occupied  the  thoughts  of  men.  Not  that  these  sub- 
jects were  in  any  sense  innovations  ;  on  the  contrary,  they  had  been  long 
established  in  the  traditions  of  Western  and  Byzantine  art,  but  the  freshness 
and  spontaneity  with  which  they  were  treated  in  the  manuscript  gave  it  a  pecu- 
liar charm.  The  costume,  life,  and  manners  of  the  age  were  illustrated  in 
scenes  of  warfare,  feasting,  and  so  forth.  The  detailed  manner  in  which  the 
stories  were  depicted  often  gave  occasion  for  lively  motives  from  daily  life. 
Among  these  may  be  noticed  the  very  original  design  of  a  play  of  marionettes 
to  illustrate  the  saying,  "  All  is  vanity."  The  handling  was  but  of  an  amateur 
character,  the  drawing  by  no  means  faultless,  the  colouring  in  bright  but  not 
over-refined  body-colour.  In  spite  of  want  of  expression  in  the  heads,  uncertain 
treatment  of  draperies,  and  movements  sometimes  awkward,  these  pictures  in 
many  cases  rose  to  a  higher  level  than  the  example  which  we  give  in  the  riding 
figure  of  Superbia  (Fig.  ^6).  Imagination  and  artistic  intention  were  every- 
where perceptible. 

One  of  the  best  works  of  this  period  is  an  Evangeliarinni  from  Bruchsal, 
now  in  the  library  at  Carlsruhe.  The  Annunciation  (Fig.  yj)  is  full  of  character: 
Mary  sits  at  her  spinning,  and  turns  her  head  to  look  round  at  the  angel  who 
is  approaching.  The  Vision  of  Ezekiel  is  a  grand  composition.  In  the  Cruci- 
fixion the  body  is  again  much  contorted,  probably  in  deference  to  Byzantine 
precedents.  In  the  picture  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  Judas  receiving  the  sop  seems 
by  an  error  of  perspective  to  be  on  the  table  itself,  diminutive,  and  almost  float- 
ing in  the  air.  Mary  and  the  angel  at  the  grave  show  the  same  motive  that 
we  shall  find  in  an  older  and  nobler  composition  in  the  panel  at  Soest.  The 
figures  are  statuesque,  with  noble  gestures,  the  heads  typical  of  the  style  and 
broad  towards  the  base,  the  treatment  on  the  whole  refined  and  careful,  the  cast 
of  the  drapery  already  rather  too  dainty  and  mannered,  the  colouring  vigorously 
laid  on  and  not  very  bright, — gold  and  green  (a  colour  for  which  German 
mediaeval  art  shows  a  special  liking)  predominating.  In  the  same  place  are  pre- 
served a  Lectionary  and  Psalter  from  S.  Peter's  in  the  Black  Forest,  which  do 
not  resemble  the  former  works,  but  are  remarkable  for  initials  composed  of 
figure  designs.  The  Psalter  also  contains  contemporary  figures  of  saints  on  the 
inside  page  of  the  cover. 

As  examples  of  Bavarian  work,  we  may  notice  two  folio  volumes  from 
the  monastery  of  S.  Ehrentrud  at  Salzburg  in  the  Munich  Librarx- :  the  first 
of  these  contains  prayers,  and  the  second  extracts  from  the  Gospels  to  be  used 
at  the  Mass.  The  former  contains  a  calendar,  with  signs  of  the  zodiac  prettily 
drawn,  a  devotional  picture  of  the  Sa\iour  between  Peter  and  Paul,  and  many 
other  religious  subjects,  enclosed  in  the  gold   initial    k-ttcrs  with   tluii-   coloured 


288 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


ornaments  and  diapered  grounds.  The  latter  is  full  of  biblical  and  legendary 
representations,  which  cover  leaf  upon  leaf  in  the  manuscript  of  a  hundred  and 
four  pages.  Although  the  inscription  Sea  Theotokos  appears  under  a  Madonna 
in   the  first  of  these  volumes,  they  show  scarcely  any  trace  of  Byzantine  influ- 


Fig-  77- 


ence  ;  the  style  is  severe,  in  spite  of  some  coarseness  in  the  execution,  and  the 
conception  often  singular.  The  colouring  is  powerful,  and  in  this  case  often 
remarkable  for  the  constant  use  of  srreen. 

The  revival  of  art  in  the  time  of  Frederick  Barbarossa  is  most  conspicuous 
in  Saxony,  and  perhaps  no  example  illustrates  this  revival  more  favourably 
than  a  Gospel-book  in  the  possession  of  the  Duke  of  Cumberland,  executed 
for  Duke  Henry  the  Lion  by  the  monk  Heriman  in  the  monastery  of  Helmers- 


MEDI/EVAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD.  289 

hausen  on  the  Diemel,  to  which  monastery  the  so-called  Theophilus  also 
probably  belonged.*-  This  manuscript  is  no  amateur  work  like  the  Hortus 
Deliciarujn,  but  the  product  rather  of  mature  and  conscious  artistic  skill.  In 
the  architectural  border  of  the  canons  the  columns  rest  on  shapes  of  crouching 
or  crawling  animals.  In  the  t\'mpanum  of  the  arch  occasionally  occur  figure- 
subjects  ;  the  crestings  at  the  sides  of  each  of  the  arches  are  formed  by  s}'mme- 
trically  designed  birds,  or  still  oftener  by  allegories  of  the  Virtues  personified  as 
female  figures  or  knights  in  armour.  Sometimes  these  fight  the  Vices  ;  thus 
a  heroic,  almost  nude,  figure  of  Faith  vanquishes  a  personification  of  Paganism. 
Then  comes  a  dedication  page,  at  the  top  of  which  is  the  holy  Virgin  and 
Child  between  John  the  Baptist  and  S.  Bartholomew,  and  below,  the  patron 
saints  of  Brunswick,  Blasius  and  ^gidius,  leading  by  the  hand  Duke  Henry 
and  his  wife  Matilda.  At  the  beginning  of  each  Gospel  are  several  pages  of 
New  Testament  pictures,  in  most  cases  two  in  a  page,  enclosed  in  rich 
borders,  at  the  angles  of  which  are  medallions  containing  the  usual  personages 
from  the  Old  Testament,  or  else  symbols,  such  as  the  pelican  and  phoenix  on 
the  page  with  the  Entombment,  or  the  Maries  at  the  Grave.  Then  follows  the 
Evangelist  himself  with  his  symbol,  generally  in  an  expressive  grouping  ;  the 
angel  of  S.  Matthew,  for  instance,  kneels  half-draped  before  him,  presenting 
the  book.  Several  pages  of  the  opening  chapters  in  each  gospel  are  in  orna- 
mental writing,  with  splendid  colours  and  beautiful  initial  letters.  The  personi- 
fied Church  and  Synagogue  again  appear  at  the  Crucifixion  as  figures  standing 
close  beside  the  cross.  The  last  picture  but  three  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Gospel  according  to  S.  John  represents  Duke  Henry  and  Matilda  among  their 
ancestors  receiving  the  crown  of  life,  and  in  the  upper  division  Christ  in  glory 
between  angels  and  saints.  On  the  next  page  the  Saviour  appears  in  a 
mmidorla  in  the  midst  of  the  emblems  of  the  Evangelists,  and  six  circles  with 
scenes  from  the  days  of  creation.  The  incidents  are  well  chosen  here,  the 
composition  original,  and,  though  containing  many  figures,  free  from  confusion. 
As  the  figures  are  mostly  drawn  on  the  same  plane  in  a  flat  decorative  style, 
faults  of  perspective  arc  not  very  evident.  The  slender,  well-proportioned 
figures  are  never  stiff,  and  even  the  nude  is  unusually  good,  only  the  feet  seem 
weaker  than  other  parts  ;  the  draj^ery  is  noble  and  simple,  the  heads  quite  well 
shaped,  though  merely  typical  in  character.  The  method  is  that  of  opaque 
water-colour  well  and  evenly  treated,  with  much  body  and  good  modelling. 

Although  this  manuscript  may  be  the  finest  of  its  kind,  it  does  not  stand 
alone,  as  we  sec  by  a  Gospel-book  with  pictures  of  the  Evangelists  and  a 
few  Bible  scenes,  from  the  Cathedral  at  Brunswick,  which  is  now  in  the 
museum  at  that  place.  If  we  consider  what  advance  was  made  in  monumental 
sculpture  in  Saxony  at  this  time,  these  paintings  will  not  surprise  us.  True, 
sculpture  in  this  age  still  stood  relatively  on  a  higher  level  than  painting. 
It  requires  much   greater  powers   of  abstraction  to  depict  a  subject  on  the  flat 


290  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

than  to'  imitate  it  in  the  round  ;  and  if  we  take  any  sculptor  and  any  painter 
of  the  Middle  Age  who  are  equal  by  talent  and  training,  we  shall  alvv^ays  find 
that  the  former  is  able  to  do  comparatively  better  work  than  the  latter.  The 
imperfect  feeling  for  form  and  knowledge  of  the  figure  are  discernible  in  both 
alike,  but  the  painter  further  suffers  from  lack  of  the  several  other  kinds  of 
knowledge,  especially  perspective,  which  his  undertaking  requires. 

The  manuscripts  of  the  end  of  the  twelfth  and  first  ten  years  of  the 
thirteenth  centuries  illustrate  a  still  further  stage  ;  the  Psalter  of  the  Landgrave 
Hermann  of  Thiiringen  {d.  A.D.  12 16)  is  a  characteristic  example  of  this  style.^^ 
The  origin  of  the  book  is  established  by  the  fact  that  bust-portraits  of  Land- 
grave Hermann  (the  prince  at  whose  court  the  legend  lays  the  scene  of  the 
famous  Strife  of  the  Minstrels),  his  wife  Sophia  of  Bavaria,  and  the  King  and 
Queen  of  Hungary  and  Bohemia,  appear  at  the  head  of  the  Litany  towards  the 
end  of  the  book,  and  also  by  the  occurrence  of  the  name  of  Hermann  in  the 
text  of  the  prayers.  The  calendar  at  the  beginning  is  parted  off  in  ten  arches 
of  an  arcade,  that  on  the  left  containing  the  text,  that  on  the  right  a  large 
figure  of  an  Apostle,  and  in  the  tympanum  above  an  energetically  realistic 
picture  of  the  occupation  proper  to  the  month.  A  new  taste  is  clearly  visible 
here  (Fig.  78).  Along  with  the  slender  proportions  of  the  figures,  we  get  the 
flowing  line  of  the  attitude,  and  a  slight  and  gentle  bend  of  the  head  ;  an 
endeavour  after  a  freer  and  more  pleasing  movement  of  the  limbs  superseding 
the  former  severity  and  solemnity  ;  and  finally,  a  tendency  to  sharp  and  broken 
folds  in  the  well-designed  drapery,  corresponding  to  that  general  inclination 
towards  sharp  and  pointed  instead  of  rounded  forms  which  was  now  beginning 
to  transform  the  whole  taste  of  the  epoch, — which  inspired  a  new  architectural 
style,  the  Gothic,  and  in  the  coming  age  governed  the  human  sense  of  form  in 
all  its  modes  of  expression  down  to  handwriting  inclusively.  In  the  Cruci- 
fixion, though  the  body  of  Christ  has  still  the  old  writhe  outwards,  the 
expression  of  sorrow  in  S.  John  is  one  of  peculiar  tenderness,  and  in  the  Last 
Judgment  the  yearning  supplication  of  Mary  (who  is  here  also  draped  in 
green),  and,  the  joyful  gestures  of  the  Blessed,  are  full  of  natural  expression. 
The  representation  of  Lazarus  in  Abraham's  bosom  at  the  end  of  the  book, 
with  accessory  personages  offering  flowers  and  fruit,  has  a  peculiar  charm. 
Its  evident  aim  at  a  new  freedom  of  style,  as  well  as  its  careful  execution 
throughout,  establish  the  importance  of  this  book  as  an  example  of  the  latest 
Romanesque  style.  Germany,  notwithstanding  the  strong  influence  of  France 
at  this  time  on  her  poetry  and  chivalry,  still  maintained  her  national  character 
in  painting,  and  produced  creations  to  which  no  French  work  of  the  same  age 
can  be  compared. 

The  ornamentation  of  the  initial  letters  in  this  style  of  manuscript  deserves 
especial  notice.  In  this  part  of  miniature-painting,  which  indeed  is  essentially 
of  the   nature    not   of  painting  but  of  writing,  the  Romanesque   period  had 


MEDL^VAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD. 


291 


hitherto  followed  the  CaroHngian  style,  and  carried  on,  or  at  most  slightly 
modified,  its  system  of  scroll,  foliage,  and  animal  designs.  That  which  had  been 
only  secondary,  leaf-work  and  figure-ornament,  now  begins  to  be  first,  and 
sometimes  completely  to  swallow  up  the  ornamental  play  of  bands,  i)laits,  and 
lines.      In  a  Psalter  of  German  origin  at  Paris,^^  among  several   large  initials  in 


Fig.  78. 

blue,  green,  silver,  etc.,  on  a  gold  ground,  we  find  an  S  in  which  the  body  of 
the  letter  itself  is  formed  of  a  dragon,  and  the  filling-in  consists  of  convention- 
alised foliage  issuing  from  the  jaws  and  tail  (Fig.  79).  In  the  Psalter  of  the 
Landgrave  Hermann  at  Stuttgart  wc  find  a  very  similar  S,  only  in  this  case 
with  the  additirin  of  the  figure  of  a  man  driving  a  spear  between  the  jaws  of 
the  dragon.  .All  the  <jthcr  initials  in  this  work  are  masterly,  as,  for  instance, 
the  first  capital  B,  which  is  fi^rnicd  of  an  admirably  workcd-out  acanthus 
pattern,   amidst   which    appear    little    animals,    lions    and    l)ir(ls,   while    in    the 


292 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


corners  room  is  made  for  whimsical  incidents  of  ploughmen,  fights  with  monsters, 
and  at  the  same  time  David  playing  on  the  harp.      In  a  German  Prayer-book  of 


Fig.  79. 


this  time  at  Cividale  in  Friuli  two  initials  with  battles  of  knights  are  remark- 
able. Similar  initials,  and  no  other  kind  of  pictures,  occur  in  a  manuscript  of 
S.  Augustine  De  Trinitate,  written  in  the  monastery  of  Engelberg  in  Switzerland, 
under  the  direction  of  the  abbot  Berchtold  {d.  A.D.  1197)  and  Henry  I.  {d.  A.D. 
1223);   and  in  another  of  the   Mater  verboruvi   in   the   Bohemian    Museum    at 


MEDL^VAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD. 


293 


Prague,  which  is  a  copy  of  the  Universal  Lexicon  compiled  ty  desire  of 
the  abbot  Salomo  of  S.  Gallen.  The  initials  here  also  contain  Bible 
stories,  as  Christ  on  the  cross,  again  contorted,  and  curiously  draped  with  a 
net  instead  of  the  usual  cloth  round  the  loins  ;  there  are  also  praying  figures 
(principally  monks  of  the  unknown  monastery  from  which  the  manuscript 
originated)  worshipping  a  sacred  personage,  apparently  the  Madonna.  Other 
initials,  however,  like  those  of  the  Engelberg  manuscript,  are  here  filled 
in  with  purely  fantastical  subjects ; 
the  Y,  for  instance,  with  an  almost 
nude  figure  balanced  among  the 
branches  of  a  vine  and  gathering 
the  grapes  in  a  basket,  and  another  of 
a  squatting  and  munching  ape  (Fig. 
80)  ;  and  also  the  capital  A,  which 
fills  a  whole  page  at  the  beginning  of 
the  same  work,  and  is  a  masterpiece 
of  fantastic  ornamentation.  Leaves 
and  plaited  work  are  everywhere 
combined  with  the  most  fanciful  inci- 
dents. Dragons  issue  from,  and  again 
run  back  into,  stems  of  plants,  strange 
heads  appear,  little  spaces  are  con- 
trived for  an  owl  crowned  by  two 
monkeys,  and  a  man  merrily  playing 
on  his  fiddle  while  two  ecclesiastical 
dignitaries  stand  apart  at  the  sides  of 
the  letter.'*^ 

Side  by  side  with  the  stronger 
development  of  Romanesque  leaf- 
ornament,  under  the  influence  of  the 
architecture  of  the  age,  we  are  struck 
in  this  work  by  the  abundance  of 
merely  fantastic  motives  of  animal  and  human  figures,  mythical  beings,  and 
strange  twy-formed  monsters.  Scenes  of  juggling  and  fighting  appear;  every- 
thing visionary,  adventurous,  demoniacal  even,  is  brought  in  ;  and  an  overflow- 
ing inventiveness  and  caprice  is  combined  with  the  formal  skill  which  often 
allows  itself  to  handle  motives  of  violent  action,  but  always  grasps  such 
motives  with  assured  boldness,  and  has  even  some  knowledge  of  the  nude  ; 
while  in  flow  of  line  and  largeness  and  unity  of  composition  the  designs  are 
altogether  admirable. 

Fantastic   rei)rcsentations   of  this   kind   also   appear  in  the  capitals,  friezes, 
doorway  mouldings,  and   other    ornaments  of   Romanesque  architecture.      In 


294  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

all  this,  modern  research  has  often  been  tempted  to  trace  a  symbolical  meaning; 
detecting  either  reminiscences  of  Northern  myths,  or  mystical  symbols  of 
religion.  But  in  reality  the  unmistakable  models  for  these  shapes  of  brute  and 
monster  are  to  be  found  in  Oriental  hangings,  which  were  always  a  commodity 
in  vogue  in  the  West  ;  and  this  fact  of  itself  disposes  of  more  far-fetched 
interpretations,  S.  Bernard  points  in  the  same  direction,  when  in  a  well- 
known  passage  of  a  letter  he  denounces  the  decoration  of  cloisters  with  shapes 
of  monsters,  combats  of  fabulous  brutes  and  demi-brutes,  whereby  the  mind  of 
the  beholder  was  led  aside  from  devout  contemplations.  This  goes  to  show 
that  such  shapes  of  fancy  were  not,  in  the  first  place,  meant  to  be  symbolical  ; 
although,  once  created,  it  is  possible  that  the  popular  mind  may  b}'  and  by 
have  sought  to  read  hidden  meanings  into  them.  At  this  time  a  form  of 
literature  daily  more  in  fashion  consisted  of  the  manuscript  Bestiaries  and  the 
book  PJiysiologus, — books  which  enumerate,  with  figures,  a  variety  of  real  and 
fabulous  animals,  and  treat  of  their  characteristics,  endeavouring  to  find  in  them 
symbolic  relations  to  the  mysteries  of  Christianity.'*^  This  kind  of  fable  ob- 
tained a  great  ascendency,  and  presently  led  to  the  production  of  works  of  art 
really  saturated  with  symbolical  significance.  Such  mystical  conceptions,  how- 
ever, fill  much  less  place  in  manuscript  than  in  architectural  decoration.  The 
phoenix  and  pelican,  as  we  find  them  in  the  Gospel-book  of  Henry  the  Lion, 
are  indeed  suggested  by  the  Pliysiologiis,  but  these  are  exceptional  cases. 
To  look  for  a  special  intention  in  every  fantastic  initial  letter — to  discern,  for 
instance,  an  embodiment  of  demoniac  power  in  the  dragon  placed  at  the 
beginning  of  the  psalm  Saknun  me  fac — would  be  to  go  too  far.  This  kind 
of  ornamental  penmanship,  more  perhaps  than  anything  else,  proceeds  from 
that  free  play  of  imagination  which  lends  so  singular  a  charm  to  mediieval 
art  ;  surrounding  serious  subjects  with  caprices  of  whimsical  daring,  and  assert- 
ing itself  boldly  in  immediate  contact  with  the  most  solemn  matters  of  church 
doctrine  and  ritual. 

We  have  now  considered  the  manuscripts  illuminated  in  opaque  water-colour 
on  a  ground  of  gold  or  colours,  and  exhibiting  all  the  wealth  of  ornamentation 
known  at  the  time.  But  as  in  earlier  stages,  so  also  in  the  best  time  of  the 
Romanesque  style  after  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century,  our  attention  is 
still  claimed  by  other  manuscripts  containing  only  pen-drawings  in  black  and 
red,  or  occasionally  slightly  coloured.  Though  often  quite  of  an  amateur  cha- 
racter, such  drawings  are  nev^ertheless  taken  as  light  improvisations,  full  of 
bold  and  lively  features.      They  are  especially  common  in  South  Germany. 

To  this  class  belong  firstly  the  manuscripts  from  the  monastery  of  Zwifalten 
at  the  foot  of  the  Swabian  Alps,  now  in  the  Public  Library  at  Stuttgart,  among 
which  only  one,  a  Breviary,  is  executed  in  body-colour.  A  Passionale  in  three 
volumes,  written  under  Abbot  Conrad  (a.D.  i  i  89-1  193),  contains  wildly  fanciful 
initials  drawn    with  the   pen,  and   numerous    large  and   small   pictures,   among 


MEDLEVAL  PAIXTIXG- -CENTRAL  PERIOD.  295 

which  there  is  now  and  then  some  colour  employed.  The  monumental  feeling 
is  prominent  here,  combined  with  the  capacity  for  reproducing  architectural 
views.  The  former  is  also  perceptible  in  the  black  and  red  pen-drawings  of 
the  Chronicon  Z^vifaldense.^~  Thus  we  find  a  large  page  with  a  representation 
of  the  creation  :  God  is  enthroned  in  the  centre,  enclosed  within  a  ring  decorated 
with  six  medallions  containing  the  Days  of  Creation.  All  round  is  the  fall  of 
the  rebel  angels,  Michael  subduing  the  dragon,  which  extends  beyond  the 
border,  and  underneath  are  the  Jaws  of  Hell,  the  Fall,  and  the  Expulsion.  The 
following  page  contains  what  is  a  favourite  subject  in  mosaic  pavements — a 
figure  personifying  the  Year,  surrounded  by  the  Signs  of  the  Zodiac,  and  repre- 
sentations of  the  Months,  Seasons,  and  Winds.  Among  later  legendary  subjects 
occurs  S.  Christopher,  as  a  lion-headed  giant  :  he  overtops  two  towers  from 
which  people  are  staring  at  him,  and  is  just  able  to  push  his  feet  through  two 
gates.  That  a  pure  style  and  careful  execution  were  possible  in  this  technical 
method  is  proved  by  the  legend  of  S.  Lucy,  in  prose  varied  with  alcaic 
verses,  published  by  Siegbert  of  Gembloux,  who  was  a  scholar  in  the  monastery 
of  S.  Vincent  at  Metz  in  the  second  half  of  the  eleventh  century.^^  This  work 
was  written  towards  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century  in  the  same  monastery. 
Besides  scenes  from  the  legend  of  S.  Lucy,  this  book  contains  pictures  of  the 
Wise  and  T'oolish  Virgins  in  two  separate  pages  :  above  each  group  appears 
the  Bridegroom  in  glory,  and  at  the  side  of  the  second  picture,  the  writer, 
one  brother  Rodulfus,  on  his  knees.  Solemn  and  symmetrical  composition  is 
united  here  with  moderate  and  fairly  expressive  movements  (Fig.  81). 

Not  earlier  than  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century  are  two  celebrated 
manuscripts  of  German  poetry  in  the  Berlin  Library,  namely,  the  Liet  von  dcr 
Maget  by  the  priest  Wernher  of  Tegernsee,  with  many  drawings,  some  of 
archaic  severity,  some  highly  decorated,  and  running  into  flourish  in  the 
draperies  and  extremities,  but  in  neither  case  devoid  of  originality  or  even  of 
charm  ;  and  the  Eneidt  of  Heinrich  von  Veldcgk,  in  which  the  outline  draw- 
ings of  love  scenes,  fights,  and  knightly  doings  show,  in  spite  of  many  short- 
comings, a  courageous  grasp,  an  endeavour  after  beauty,  and  gestures  surpris- 
ingly expressive.  To  illustrate  profane  poetry  in  this  manner  became  now 
more  and  more  the  fashion. 

The  monk  Conrad,  of  the  Bavarian  monastery  of  Scheiern,  was  a  very 
prolific  scribe,  and  evidently  often  illustrated  his  own  manuscripts  ;  his 
name  constantly,  and  occasionally  even  his  portrait,  occurs  in  the  collec- 
tion of  his  productions  now  in  the  Munich  Library,"*'*  He  lived  under 
Abbot  Conrad  (a.D.  1206-12 16),  and  also  for  a  long  time  afterwards  under 
his  successor  Henry,  as  a  scribe,  illuminator,  and  goldsmith:  the  date  1241 
appears  in  his  Mater  Verbonini.  He  worked  boldly  away,  generally  on  a 
large  scale,  and  was  in  the  habit  of  colouring  his  pen-drawings  but  slightly  ; 
he    shows    himself    on    the    one    hand    master    of    ihr    traditional    types,    and 


296 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


^■39Vt^A;^j 


Fic  81. 


on  the  other  capable  of  happy  ideas  of  his  own.  His  most  important 
book,  a  very  large  Ltber  Matutinalis^^  contains  solemn  presentations  of  the 
Dragon  and  Woman  of  the  Apocalypse,  the  Crucifixion,  the  Triumph  over 
Heresy  ;  but  it  also  contains  two  series  of  pictures  from  popular  legends  not 
strictly  theological  in  character,  which  we  are  accustomed  afterwards  to  find  in 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD.  297 

the  French  work  Miracles  de  la  Vierge.  These  include  the  storj^  of  the  severe 
Abbess  betrayed,  notwithstanding  her  severity,  b\'  the  Tempter,  but  saved 
from  disgrace  through  the  succour  of  the  Virgin,  who  sends  her  angels  to  bring 
the  child  into  the  world  and  take  care  of  it ;  also  the  legend  of  Theophilus, 
who,  because  of  a  reprimand  from  his  bishop  goes  over  to  the  Jews  and  gives 
himself  up  to  Antichrist,  but  not  being  able  to  cease  from  good  works,  comes 
into  conflict  with  the  Evil  One,  from  whom  he  at  last  gets  back  his  bond 
through  the  help  of  the  Mother  of  God,  and  makes  a  good  end.  For  stories 
of  this  kind  there  were  no  ancient  models  to  follow,  so  our  scribe  Conrad 
makes  his  own  way  with  simplicity,  and  with  broad,  agreeable,  and  often  in- 
voluntarily entertaining  result.  The  Historia  ScJiolastica  of  Petrus  Commestor 
and  the  JSIater'  Verboriun,  are  also  remarkable.^^  The  former  contains 
allegories  of  the  Liberal  Arts,  and  the  latter  a  representation  of  sacred  and  Pro- 
fane Music,  in  which  there  are  figures  and  groups  each  in  a  border  of  its  own  ; 
as  for  instance  Pythagoras,  David  playing  the  harp,  Boethius  and  Guido  of 
Arezzo,  associated  together  though  in  separate  borders  ;  also  allegories  of  the 
Virtues  and  Vices  illustrated  by  examples  from  the  Old  Testament  and  from 
pagan  story  ;  for  instance  Cupiditas,  illustrated  by  Croesus  before  Cyrus  ; 
Jezebel  with  tight  draperies  ;  Haman  on  the  gallows,  etc.  In  this  last  pair 
of  manuscripts  the  exhibitive  groups  devoid  of  action  take  a  kind  of  rigid 
devotional  style  ;  a  very  large  symmetrical  figure  of  the  Madonna  and  Child 
enthroned  in  the  Mater  Verborwn  recalls  the  hieratic  conceptions  in  earlier 
French  glass-painting,  of  which  we  shall  speak  farther  on.  Conrad  of  Scheiern 
was  in  all  this  a  hasty  worker  ;  he  already  exhibits  something  of  that  spirit  of 
mechanical  production  which  possessed  itself  of  German  miniature-painting 
after  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century.  He  was  conscious  of  this  himself, 
and  excuses  himself  in  some  Latin  verses,  on  the  plea  that  he  had  done  all 
his  work  alone  and  received  none  of  the  pay  which  he  had  fairly  earned.^- 

Miniaturc-painting  as  well  as  manuscript-writing  was  still  essentiall}-  an  art 
of  the  monastery,  and  the  two  were  closely  allied  to  each  other  ;  but  as  paint- 
ing became  more  fully  developed,  it  could  not  remain,  as  it  had  hitherto  done, 
the  work  of  the  scribe.  A  division  of  labour  henceforth  became  usual.  In  the 
Necrologium  from  Zwifalten,  the  painter  Wernher,  and  the  scribe  Reinhard  of 
Mundcrkingen  (who  died  as  abbot  a.d.  1232J,  are  represented  standing  under 
two  arcades. 

A  pen-drawing  at  the  end  of  a  manuscript  of  S.  Augustine's  Dc  Civitate 
Dei,  in  the  library  of  the  metropolitan  chapter  at  Prague,  exhibits  still 
more  plainly  the  relations  between  the  scribe  and  the  illuminator,  the  sub- 
ordinate position  of  the  latter,  and  the  fact  of  their  working  in  the  same 
work-room  (Fig.  82).  This  manuscript  was  evidcntlj-  written  about  A.n.  1  200 
in  a  German  monastery.  At  the  end  of  the  text  is  a  picture  of  the  monk 
Heldebert   at   his  writing-desk  (which  is  in  the  shape  of  a  lion),  turning   round 

2  Q 


298 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


with  his  pen  stuck  behind  his  ear,  to  throw  something  at  a  mouse  which  is 
munching  at  his  dinner-table,  and   in  the  book  which  lies  open  on  the  desk  is 


sV^^^^Jlv- 


/MJif <t  ^de^pi 


Fig.  82. 


written  this  curse,  "  Wicked  mouse,  provoking  me  again  and  again  to  anger, 
may  God  destroy  thee ! "  {Pessime  mus,  septus  me  provocas  ad  iram,  ut  te  deus 
perdat).  At  his  feet  sits  a  young  man,  "  Everwinus,"  drawing  an  ornament  for 
illumination.  This  is  an  interesting  pictorial  addition  to  whimsical  words  such 
as  scribes  often  add  by  way  of  conclusion  to  their  works. 


CHAPTER    III. 

PAVEMENTS,  TEXTILE  TRODUCTS,  PAINTINGS  ON  WALL  AND  PANEL. 

Mosaic  ;  employed  in  this  age  for  pavements  only — Germany  ;  crj'pt  of  S.  Gereon  at  Cologne — France  ; 
church  of  Cnias — Various  substitutes  for  stone  mosaic — Textile  Products  :  Byzantine  works  and 
northern  imitations — The  Bayeux  tapestry ;  its  subject— Its  character — Subjects  from  Marcianus  Capella, 
etc. — Mural  Paintings;  numerous  in  this  age,  but  few  remaining— Their  technical  method — Their 
artistic  character — Their  subjects  more  and  more  exclusively  religious — Examples  ;  Schwarzrheindorf 
— Brauweiler— Soest  ;  Liigde  ;  Methler  ;  Ahnister  — llalberstadt ;  Goslar— Brunswick— Regensburg  ; 
Perschen;  Forchheim  ;  Prague— Examples  in  Austria;  Lambach  ;  the  Cathedral  at  Gurk— Wall-paint- 
ings of  this  period  less  common  in  France;  examples  at  Liget,  Poitiers,  and  S.  Savin— Holland  ;  wall- 
paintings  of  the  demolished  church  of  Gorkum — Paintings  on  Timber  Roofs  and  Panels  ; 
formerly  numerous,  but  few  remaining — Oldest  examples  at  Zillis  in  Switzerland — Ceiling  of  S.  Michael's 
Church,  Hildesheim — Introduction  of  painted  panels  or  antependia  for  altar-fronts — Examples  from 
Soest,  Liin,  Worms,  and  Cologne. 

I.  Mosaic. — This  art  never  fully  naturalised  itself  in  the  North  ;  it  only  occurs 
in  isolated  instances  during  the  Romanesque  period,  and  then  only  in  pavements. 
It  was  first  introduced  by  Bishop  Bernvvard  of  Hildesheim,  although  he  had 
never  learnt  the  art  himself,  but  had  evidently  only  studied  Italian  models. 

Among  the  most  important  existing  remains  are  some  in  the  Rhineland, 
especially  the  great  pavement  in  the  crypt  of  S.  Gereon  at  Cologne,  which 
was  discovered  in  a  state  of  dilapidation  and  has  been  lately  restored.^^  This 
evidently  belongs  to  the  time  of  Bishop  Anno,  by  whom  the  choir  was  conse- 
crated A.D.  1069.  It  accords  so  closely  with  the  Italian  work  of  the  same  kind, 
of  which  we  shall  have  to  speak  later,  that  it  must  belong  to  the  same  school. 
Anno  must  have  got  Italian  workmen  to  come  to  Cologne,  as  the  stones  of 
which  the  pavement  is  made  have  been  identified  as  belonging  tothe  locality.  The 
scenes  represented  arc  from  the  stories  of  Joseph,  Joshua,  Samson,  and  David, 
and  there  are  also  the  signs  of  the  zodiac.  The  drawing  is  rude  and  unskilful. 
The  calm  and  business-like  manner  in  which  David  is  represented  cutting  off 
the  head  of  Goliath,  who  obligingly  keeps  still  the  while,  is  quite  childish.  The 
animals,  such  as  the  lions  slain  by  Samson  and  David,  are  heraldic,  and  show 
no  attempt  to  follow  nature.  The  figures  are  enclosed  within  black  outlines 
on  a  white  ground,  and  filled  in  with  colour  without  either  shading  or  model- 
ling ;   the  red  of  the  checks  is  coarsely  laitl  on  in  jjatches. 

Mosaic  pavements  occur  more  frequently  in  the  south  of  France,  which  was 
in  some  measure  classic  soil.  There  is  a  remarkable  work  dating  from  A.D.  1048 
in    the   church   of   Cruas   (Ardcche)  :   it   represents  a   cross,   between   two   con- 


/ 


v. 


300  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

ventional  trees,  and  at  the  sides  the  prophets  Eh'jah  and  Enoch.^^  The 
school  which  we  find  here  is  independent  of  that  of  northern  Italy  ;  the  pro- 
portions are  weak  and  the  draperies  ill  understood  ;  here  also  black  outlines 
are  used,  but  the  technical  mode  of  laying  the  marble  is  extremely  careful.  In 
northern  France  the  church  of  S.  Remi  at  Rhcims  once  possessed  a  mosaic 
pavement  of  A.D.  1090,  in  which,  besides  Scripture  scenes,  were  figured  the 
Earth  enthroned  on  Oceanus,  the  four  rivers  of  Paradise,  the  Seasons,  Months, 
Signs  of  the  zodiac,  Cardinal  Virtues,  and  seven  Liberal  Arts.^^ 

This  mode  of  decorating  pavements  continued  to  be  used  in  France,  and 
was  even  employed  later  in  the  Gothic  style,  when,  however,  the  substance 
chiefly  employed  was  tile,  and  the  designs  became  purely  ornamental.  In  the 
cathedral  at  Hildesheim  an  analogous  pavement  was  laid  A.D.  i  122,  with  a  kind 
of  substitute  for  mosaic,  of  which  fragments  still  remain  :  the  lines  of  the  draw- 
ing were  incised  upon  a  plaster  ground  and  filled  in  with  a  black  composition. 

While  these  stone  carpets,  so  to  call  them,  were  reserved  for  pavements 
alone,  the  decoration  of  walls  was  given  over  either  to  carpets  proper — to  the 
works  of  textile  art — or  else  to  their  substitute,  painting. 

II.  Textile  Products. — The  richest  and  most  sumptuous  hangings  and 
embroidered  garments  still  came  from  Byzantium  and  the  East,  and  later  from 
Sicily,  whither  the  Byzantine  silk-weaving  loom  had  been  transplanted  ;  but 
this  "  Greek  work "  was  also  carried  on  in  the  North,  though  with  less  skill. 
The  patterns  of  the  imported  stuffs  and  embroideries,  with  their  heraldic 
animals  and  conventional  leaf-ornaments,  were  copied,  Attempts  were  also 
made  at  original  designs  of  sacred  and  profane  subjects,  in  which  this  period, 
which  was  but  little  advanced  in  art,  endeavoured  with  the  needle  to  approach 
the  character  of  the  drawings  to  be  worked  from.  The  execution  was  generally 
the  work  of  women,  and  was  carried  on  by  nuns  or  ladies  ;  but  monks  also 
practised  the  art,  executing  the  needlework  itself  as  well  as  the  preparatory 
drawings.  The  worl^  of  Brother  Beretha,  in  the  monastery  of  Ulrich  at  Augs- 
burg, is  said  to  be  very  striking.  He  executed  three  magnificent  Lenten  car- 
pets for  the  use  of  the  abbots  of  that  place  in  the  twelfth  century. 

Among  the  hangings  which  served  as  permanent  or  temporary  decorations 
of  halls  and  chambers  and  the  lower  parts  of  churches,  many,  from  their  sub- 
jects alone,  form  an  important  appendix  to  the  monuments  of  painting  proper. 
The  most  famous  of  all  these  works  is  the  Bayeux  tapestry,  formerly  in  the 
cathedral  and  now  in  the  museum  of  that  place.^*'  It  is  an  embroidery  in 
coloured  wools  on  linen,  of  considerable  size,  measuring  about  2 1 5  feet  in 
length  by  2  i  inches  in  height.  This  work  is  a  monument  not  only  of  art  but 
of  history, — "  a  historical  picture  of  the  time,"  as  Ranke  says,  inasmuch  as  it 
represents  the  conquest  of  England  by  Duke  William  of  Normandy,  A.D.  1 066, 
and   was   evidently  executed   soon    after  that  date.      The  event,  with  its   cause 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— CEiNTRAL  PERIOD.  301 

and  antecedents,  unfolds  itself  in  a  continuous  frieze-like  composition,  explained 
by  short  inscriptions.  Although  there  are  no  ornamental  divisions,  the  piece 
naturally  falls  according  to  subject,  into  five  parts  or  acts.  First  comes  the 
exposition  :  Edward  the  Confessor  is  seen  seated  on  his  throne,  sending  Earl 
Harold  of  Kent,  the  mightiest  lord  in  the  kingdom,  to  tell  Duke  William  of 
Normandy  that  he  has  chosen  him  as  his  successor.  Harold  rides  with  his 
followers  to  the  bay  of  Bosham,  visits  the  church  there,  dines  and  embarks. 
On  the  voyage  he  is  wrecked,  and  has  to  land  against  his  will  on  the 
territory'  of  Count  Wido  of  Ponthieu,  who  takes  him  prisoner,  but  releases 
him  again  at  William's  request.  The  last  group  of  this  act  shows  Duke 
William  on  his  throne  in  his  palace  receiving  Harold,  who  is  brought  to  him 
by  Wido  himself  Then  follows  a  hitherto  unexplained  episode  of  two 
figures,  Ulic  Jinus  clericus  et  Aelgyva.  Then  comes  the  second  act :  A  war 
breaks  out  between  William  and  Count  Conan  of  Brittany  ;  the  Norman 
army  marches  on  S.  Michael's  Mount,  crossing  rivers,  besieging  towns ; 
on  the  way  they  take  Dinan  by  storm,  and  Conan,  who  is  besieged  there, 
hands  down  from  the  battlements  the  keys  of  the  town  with  the  standard. 
Hereupon  William  rewards  Harold,  who  has  taken  part  in  these  battles,  and 
who  now  takes  the  solemn  oath  of  allegiance  to  William  on  the  sacred  relics 
at  Bayeux.  The  third  act  completes  the  crisis  of  the  action.  Harold  goes 
back  to  England,  and  immediately  upon  this  follow  the  burial  and  death  (in 
this  order)  of  Edward.  Harold  is  at  once  chosen  king  by  the  nobles.  Stigand, 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who  has  officiated  at  his  coronation,  stands  by  his 
side  while  the  nobles  do  homage.  But  there  appears  a  comet,  omen  of  mis- 
chance and  terror.  The  fourth  act  begins  with  the  bringing  of  this  news  to 
William  by  an  English  ship.  William  then  orders  ships  to  be  built  (Fig.  83). 
Next  follow  the  embarking  of  the  troops,  the  voyage,  the  landing,  and  the 
march  to  Hastings.  Here  food  is  requisitioned,  and  the  troops  are  seen  pre- 
paring their  meal,  and  after  that  William  holds  a  council  with  Archbishop  Odo 
and  Rufus,  and  an  entrenched  camp  is  hastily  laid  out  near  Hastings.  In  the 
fifth  act  comes  the  catastrophe,  beginning  with  the  two  armies  marching  against 
one  another.  William  harangues  his  army,  though  indeed,  in  this  quaint  design, 
no  one  listens  to  him,  for  his  men  have  all  turned  their  backs  and  arc  already 
riding  to  battle.  Now  comes  a  wild  medley  of  horse  and  foot  in  which  the 
brothers  of  Harold  fall  ;  in  the  tumult  can  be  descried  Odo  with  the  com- 
mander's baton  and  William  himself  The  death  of  Harold  and  flight  of  the 
English  form  the  closing  scene. 

The  rudeness  of  the  drawing  in  this  work  is  in  truth  extraordinary — the 
figures  out  of  all  proportion,  the  trees  little  better  than  so  many  scrolls,  and  the 
architectural  parts  showing  an  utter  ignorance  of  perspective,  although  the  Ro- 
manesque style  may  still  be  recognised  in  them.  The  same  capricious  colouring 
that  we  have  often  found  in  primitive  miniatures  also  prevails  here  ;   the  horses 


302 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


are  red  or  green.      But  with   all  this,  the  work   as  a  whole   is   astonishingly  full 
of  life.      The  costumes,  furniture,  and  vessels  of  all  kinds,  are  distinctly  given  ; 


Fi-   S^ 


we  see  men  felling  trees,  carpentering,  cooking,  eating,  and  fighting.  Every 
activity  displays  itself  with  vigorous  naturalness.  The  frieze  is  enclosed  at  the 
top  and  bottom  by  a  broad  border  with  conventionalised  animals  and  monsters, 
except  in  the  battle-piece  at  the  end,  where  the  action  becomes  so  lively  that 
the  combatants  and  the  fallen  extend  over  into  the  border. 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD.  303 

A  favourite  subject  for  textile  art  in  this  age  was  the  allegoric  Marriage 
of  Mercury  with  Philology,  as  described  at  the  beginning  of  the  fantastic  ency- 
clopaedia of  Marcianus  Capella.  These  and  other  mythological  figures  and 
personifications  of  the  Virtues  are  represented  on  the  embroidered  hangings  in 
the  Treasury  of  the  castle-chapel  at  Qredlinburg.  They  are  evidently  the 
same  which,  according  to  the  old  chronicles,  the  Abbess  Agnes  of  that  place 
executed  with  her  maidens  about  A.D.  1200.  Together  with  unmistakable 
reminiscences  of  older  models,  they  show  felicity  and  liveliness  in  motive  and 
relative  freedom  of  treatment.^'^ 

III.  Mural  Painting. — But  after  all  the  power  of  pictorial  representation 
in  this  age  was  more  easily  able  to  express  itself  in  monumental  painting  proper. 
Our  remains  of  Romanesque  mural  painting,  though  but  a  small  fraction  of 
what  once  existed,  are  beyond  comparison  more  numerous  than  those  of  textile 
art.  Documentary  notices  of  wall-paintings  in  various  places  have  been 
collected  from  historical  sources  by  several  scholars,  but  it  is  needless  to  quote 
or  to  complete  these  notices,  since  in  fact  such  works  were  produced  everywhere. 
A  building  in  the  Romanesque  style  was  unfinished  without  its  decorative 
paintings.  The  great  wall-surfaces  in  churches  and  the  cloisters  of  monasteries 
demanded  pictorial  decorations.  Later  generations  have  entirely  destroyed  the 
remains  of  these  as  well  as  the  coloured  ornament  of  the  interiors  in  general  ; 
but  wherever  we  remove  the  whitewash,  we  find  traces  of  these  old  pictures, 
though  they  are  of  course  faded  and  spoilt,  and  any  restoration  of  them  involves 
a  loss  of  their  original  character.  Ecclesiastical  chroniclers  frequently  think 
it  worth  while  to  commemorate  the  donation  of  such  works  ;  in  some  instances 
they  even  give  detailed  descriptions  of  their  subjects  and  arrangements. 
The  subjects  are  the  same  as  those  of  Early  Christian  and  Byzantine  art, 
enriched  by  the  figures  and  legends  of  other  saints.  We  find  stately  single 
figures  and  typical  groups  without  action,  as  well  as  narrative  pictures  generally 
containing  a  number  of  figures,  and  representing  several  successive  incidents 
side  by  side.  The  technical  execution  was  swift.  Studies  from  nature  were 
not  used,  but  in  their  place  older  models  and  traditions  came  in,  and  if  this 
rapid  mode  called  for  many  helping  hands,  still  there  was  not  at  this  stage  so 
very  much  to  choose  between  the  work  of  a  master  and  the  work  of  his 
scholars. 

The  drawings  were  done  in  thick  black  outlines  on  the  smoothly  prepared 
wall-surfaces  or  vaultings,  and  coloured  in  simple  tones  without  fine  gradations 
and  almost  without  shading.  The  halos  of  the  saints,  borders  of  the  dresses, 
and  the  like,  were  laid  on  in  gold.  Hie  ground  was  always  in  one  colour, 
generally  blue.  The  separate  comj^artmcnts  were  enclosed  by  tapestry-like 
borders,  and  sometimes  al.so  by  arrliitectural  designs,  especially  of  arcades  sup- 
ported   on    columns,    which    helped    to    carry   out    the    system    of    polychrome 


304  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

decoration  applied  to  the  building  itself;   the  dado  generally  consisted  of  painted 
carpets  or  curtains  with  simple  folds. 

Thus  the  pictures  themselves  looked  like  imitation  hangings  ;  figures  and 
ornaments  were  conventionalised  and  adapted  to  a  scheme  of  surface  decoration. 
They  are  placed  above  and  beside  each  other  without  any  real  pictorial  connection, 
but  brought  into  an  agreeable  relation  at  least  by  a  lucky  combination  of  lines. 
The  colouring  is  purely  decorative,  and  produces  its  effect  by  the  harmonious 
distribution  of  the  several  fields  of  colour  within  their  dark  outlines.  The 
artist  renounces  all  attempt  at  indicating  a  third  or  depth  dimension  ;  he 
scarcely  at  all  indicates  localities,  using  architecture  only  as  a  framework,  hardly 
as  a  background,  and  thus  avoiding  the  difficulties  of  which  he  was  not  yet 
master,  and  openly  avowing  the  flat  decorative  character  of  the  pictures.  But 
it  is  just  for  this  reason  that  wall-paintings  of  this  kind  formed  such  a  harmo- 
nious ornament  to  Romanesque  buildings,  and  that  this  really  decorative  treat- 
ment gives  them  a  kind  of  advantage  over  that  of  the  more  complete  and 
pictorially  designed  wall-paintings  of  maturer  times. 

Profane  pictures,  such  as  royal  battles  and  victories,  had,  in  pursuance  of 
Roman  tradition,  been  painted  in  earlier  times  in  the  palaces  of  princes.  King 
Henry  I.  even  had  caused  his  victory  over  the  Hungarians  to  be  painted  in  an 
upper  hall  of  the  castle  at  Merseburg  ;  this  work  is  praised  in  old  writings  for 
its  lively  and  natural  character.  But  this  class  of  painting  fell  more  and  more 
into  disuse.  Ecclesiastical  art  took  the  first  place,  and  to  it  even  the  pictorial 
style  of  the  age  was  favourable.  What  might  seem  a  hindrance  became  really 
an  advantage  ;  the  very  austerity  of  conception  was  calculated  to  produce  an 
impressiveness  which  the  conventional  character  of  the  designs  does  not  tend 
to  lessen,  and  the  character  of  cramped  restraint  becomes  the  sign  of  subordi- 
nation to  the  will  of  God.^^ 

Remains  of  eleventh  and  early  twelfth  century  work  of  this  kind  are  rather 
scarce  in  Germany.  In  the  porch  of  the  church  of  S.  George  at  Oberzell,  in 
the  island  of  Reichenau  (the  celebrated  monastery  which  was  one  of  the  centres 
of  art),  there  is  a  Last  Judgment,  with  attenuated  figures,  but  a  certain  endeavour 
after  beauty  and  movement.  The  flesh  parts  have  all  turned  black  from  the 
decay  of  the  colour.  Fine  half-length  figures  of  saints,  in  the  tower  of  the 
Cathedral  of  Nonnberg  at  Salzburg,  are  more  severe  in  drawing,  the  one 
seen  in  full  front,  all  very  emaciated,  with  pointed  oval  faces,  draped  in  rich 
sacerdotal  robes,  and  placed  in  decorated  niches  of  simple  architectural  form.^^ 
Most  of  the  remains  existing  in  Germany  belong  to  the  best  period  of  the 
Romanesque  style,  that  is  to  say  to  the  close  of  the  twelfth  and  first  half  of 
the  thirteenth  century.  Many  of  the  most  important  are  to  be  found  in  the 
Rhineland.  The  lower  church  at  Schwarzrheindorf,*^^  a  sepulchral  chapel  of  the 
Archbishop  of  Cologne  completed  A.D.  i  i  5  i,  contains  a  continuous  series  of  pic- 
tures,  but  only  in    its  eastern  part,  thus  showing  that  they  were  painted  before 


bis 


2    K 


3o6  MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD. 

the  chapel  had  received  the  addition  of  a  nave  towards  the  west  in  A.D.  i  156. 
The  semi -dome  of  the  apse  contains  a  seated  figure  of  Christ  as  Teacher, 
enclosed  in  a  circle  ;  at  his  feet  are  the  twelve  Apostles  and  the  Evangelists, 
in  two  well-ordered  groups,  in  one  of  which  appears  a  bishop,  probably  the 
founder  of  the  church  (Fig.  84).  Other  subjects  in  the  series  are  the  four 
Evangelists  at  their  desks,  with  their  symbols  above  them  ;  the  visions  of 
Ezekiel  ;  his  prophecies  of  the  New  Jerusalem  ;  the  angel  of  the  Lord,  armed 
and  like  a  figure  of  bronze,  appearing  in  the  gate  of  the  cit}'  ;  the  measuring 
of  the  walls  round  the  city  ;  the  sacrifice  of  reconciliation  at  the  altar  ;  the 
coming  of  the  Lord  through  the  east  gate  ;  Christ  driving  out  the  money 
changers  from  the  Temple  ;  the  Transfiguration  ;  a  Crucifixion,  with  a  number 
of  figures,  and  below,  the  soldiers  casting  lots  for  Christ's  raiment  and  Pilate 
washing  his  hands.  The  smaller  niches  in  the  transepts  contain  figures  of 
seated  kings,  the  wall-faces  of  the  window-openings  in  the  western  arm  show 
four  warriors  overthrowing  bearded  figures — Virtues,  probably,  triumphing  over 
so  many  Vices.  The  ground  is  blue  throughout  ;  the  drawing  severe,  and  the 
designs  harmoniously  arranged  to  fit  the  spaces.  The  lines  of  the  body  are 
hacracteristically  expressed  through  the  drapery,  of  which  the  cast,  however,  is 
formal,  and  broken  into  a  multitude  of  minute  folds  ;  but  we  are  surprised  by 
an  approach  to  power  and  often  passion,  in  actions  and  gestures,  side  by  side 
with  attitudes  of  otherwise  antique  solemnity. 

In  the  apse  of  the  upper  church  the  Saviour  is  enthroned,  with  a  bishop 
prostrated  at  his  feet  between  the  emblems  of  the  Evangelists  and  figures  of 
saints.  Farther  back  there  is  a  whole  crowd  of  saints,  chiefly  warriors.  On 
the  cross-vaulting  Christ  appears  twice,  and  the  Virgin  also  twice,  without  her 
Child,  between  groups  of  adoring  saints  and  martyrs. 

The  somewhat  later  paintings  in  the  roof  of  the  chapter-house  of  the 
Abbey  of  Brauweiler  at  Cologne  may  be  placed  on  the  same  level.^^  The 
four-and-twenty  fields  of  the  six  groined  vaults  contain,  in  allusion  to  the 
eleventh  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  a  didactic  representation  of  the 
power  of  faith,  in  scenes  from  the  Old  Testament,  the  Gospels,  and  the  legends 
of  Saints  and  Martyrs  ;  and  in  the  compartment  facing  the  entrance,  a  colossal 
bust  of  Christ  according  to  the  beardless  type.  It  is  no  longer  possible  to 
trace  continuously  the  larger  pictures  on  the  walls  within  the  engaged  arches 
which  continue  this  series.  The  divisional  arrangement  of  the  design  as  a 
whole  is  imposing,  and,  in  spite  of  many  errors  and  an  entirely  decorative 
intention  of  the  treatment,  is  distinctly  more  free  and  natural,  though  still  main- 
taining a  monumental  dignity.  The  heroic  form  of  Samson  standing  between 
groups  of  slain  Philistines  (Fig.  85)  is  a  characteristic  example  of  this  style. 

A  clear  general  impression  of  this  style  of  coloured  church-decoration  may 
be  obtained  from  the  Baptistery  of  S.  Gereon  at  Cologne,  which  was  com- 
pleted A.D.  1227,  and  the   pictures  of  which  date  from  the  close  of  this  period. 


MEDLEVAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD. 


307 


The  painted  arcades  in  the  transition  style  contain  figures  of  bishops  and  saints, 
generally  in  pairs.  Seen  in  full  front,  the  attitudes  have  more  movement,  but 
the  draperies  are  angular,  with  restless  overcrowded  folds  about  the  feet. 
Christ  appears  between  Mary  and  John  the  Baptist  in  the  field  of  the  arch  over 
the  altar.*^- 

In  Westphalia,  the  paintings  in  the  choir  apse  of  the  minster  church  of  S. 
Patroclus  at  Soest  take  the  first  rank  ;  according  to  the  fragments  of  an  in- 
scription, they  were  executed  A.D.  i  166.  In  the  arch  appears  a  gigantic  picture 
of  Christ  enthroned  in  the  mandorla,  at  each  side  are  the  symbols  of  Matthew 
and  John,  and  under  them  those  of  Mark  and  Luke,  surrounded  by  six  standing 
saints — Mary,  Peter  and   Stephen,  John  the  Baptist,  Paul,  and  Laurence.     Be- 


Fig.  85. 


neath  a  frieze  with  busts  of  saints  we  see  on  the  wall  of  the  apse  four  imposing 
figures  of  kings  under  architectural  canopies,  and  on  the  window-spaces  two 
rows  of  smaller  figures  of  angels  and  saints.  These  paintings  are  remarkable 
for  care  of  execution,  minuteness  of  fold,  together  with  a  restfulncss  of  flow 
in  the  drapery,  and  an  increase  of  natural  freedom  along  with  solemn  repose. 
Later  pictures  are  to  be  found  in  a  side  apse  of  the  Lady  chapel,  and  in  the 
Nicholas  chapel  close  at  hand.  To  the  paintings  of  the  principal  choir  here  are 
allied,  both  in  subject  and  treatment,  those  in  the  church  of  S.  Kilian  at  Liigde 
near  Pyrmont,  only  that  here  the  two  deacons  are  absent  among  the  ui)i)cr  row 
of  saints,  and  underneath  we  have  the  Apostles  instead  of  the  figures  of  the 
four  kings.  In  the  village  church  of  Mcthlcr,  near  Dortmund,  paintings  from 
the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  ccntur\-  still  exist  in  the  choir  and  on  the  side 
walls  of  the  nave.  The  execution  of  thcso  is  ruder,  but  there  is  iiuirli  senti- 
ment in  many  of  the  motives,  in  llir  Annunciation  for  example,  and  we  are 
struck  by  the  characteristic  energ)'  of  the  figures  of  the  Apostles,  and  the  striving 
after  expression  everywhere.      A   picture  in  the   western    transept  of  the  cathe- 


o 


08  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


dral  at  Miinster  is  more  noteworthy  for  its  subject,  and  as  throwing  light  on  a 
historical  ev^ent,  than  for  its  artistic  merits  ;  a  group  of  Frisian  country-folk 
approach  S.  Paul,  the  patron  saint  of  the  church,  with  gifts,  signifying  their 
political  subjection  to  the  overlordship  of  the  bishop.^^ 

In  East  Saxony  the  large  paintings  in  the  Liebfrauenkirche  at  Halber- 
stadt  should  be  mentioned  ;  they  are  unfortunately  for  the  most  part  repainted. 
With  the  exception  of  a  few  very  dilapidated  fragments  in  the  choir,  the 
figures  of  saints  in  the  ancient  chapel  of  S.  Barbara  alone  belong  to  the  end 
of  the  twelfth  century,  while  the  principal  paintings,  the  bold  forms  of  prophets 
between  the  upper  windows  of  the  side  walls  and  the  nav^e,  the  figures  of 
saints  in  the  apse,  the  paintings  of  the  vaultings  of  the  transept  and  choir,  only 
date  from  after  the  construction  of  the  vaultings  (a.D.  i  270-1  284).  A  rather 
earlier  date  may  be  assigned  to  the  picture  in  the  dome  of  the  apse  in  the 
Neuwerker  church  at  Goslar.  This  is  a  Madonna  and  Child  in  the  viandorla 
among  angels  and  saints.*"'* 

Lastly,  to  the  first  part  of  the  thirteenth  century  belongs  also  one  of  the 
largest  and  most  important  series  of  pictures,  that  in  the  transept  and  choir  of 
the  cathedral  at  Brunswick.'''  Unfortunately,  the  general  effect  is  much 
impaired  by  a  far  too  comprehensive  restoration  (the  north  arm  of  the  transept 
being  disfigured  with  styleless  modern  paintings),  but  it  is  still  possible  to  get 
the  impression  of  a  connected  decoration  of  walls  and  vaultings  such  as  we 
seldom  obtain.  The  paintings  of  the  apse  no  longer  exist,  but  the  semi- 
dome  doubtless  contained  the  Saviour  enthroned.  The  groined  vaulting  of  the 
quadrangular  part  of  the  choir  is  filled  with  the  genealogical  tree  of  Christ. 
The  pointed  arches  of  the  north  and  south  walls  contain  two  rows  of  pictures 
—  the  former  the  story  of  Cain  and  Abel,  and  the  latter  Abraham  and  the 
three  angels,  Abraham's  sacrifice,  Moses  and  the  burning  bush,  and  the  lifting 
up  of  the  brazen  serpent  ;  all,  therefore.  Old  Testament  types  of  Christ. 
Three  lower  rows  are  filled  with  lively  narrative  scenes  from  the  legends  of 
John  the  Baptist  and  S.  Blasius.  Large  figures  of  both  these  saints  stand 
facing  the  body  of  the  church  on  the  arch  of  triumph,  which  farther  contains 
the  Fall,  in  half-length  figures,  aloft  on  the  side  towards  the  choir.  In  the 
roof  above  the  bay  formed  by  the  intersection  of  choir  and  transepts  the 
Lamb  of  God  forms  a  centre,  and  is  surrounded  by  six  scenes  from  the 
Gospels  ;  Christ's  birth  and  Presentation  in  the  temple  ;  the  Maries  at  the 
sepulchre  ;  the  walk  to  Emmaus,  the  repast  there  ;  and  the  Outpouring  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  in  connection  with  this  appears  the  wall  enclosing  the 
New  Jerusalem  with  its  twelve  towers.  The  spandrils  contain  eight  pro- 
phets, supporting  the  whole.  An  arch  leading  to  the  south  arm  of  the 
transept  contains,  below,  large  figures  of  the  Madonna  and  S.  Barbara,  above, 
medallions  of  angels  and  prophets.  In  the  vaultings  Christ  and  Mary  are 
enthroned,  surrounded   by  angels   and   the  crowned   elders  of  the  Apocalypse. 


MEDL^VAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD.  309 

The  lunette  at  the  eastern  end  of  the  transept,  broken  by  two  windows,  is  filled 
by  Christ  in  Limbus,  the  Resurrection,  and  between  these  two  the  Ascension  ; 
the  southern  and  western  arches  b\-  the  Wise  and  Foolish  Virgins  :  over  each 
of  these  two  groups  is  the  colossal  figure  of  an  angel.  The  lower  parts  of 
the  walls  are  covered  by  various  legendary  subjects  and  martyrdoms,  as  well 
as  single  figures  of  saints.  Fragments  of  painting  have  also  come  to  light  in 
the  nave. 

The  pictures  were  originally  lightly  and  delicateh-  coloured  on  a  blue  ground, 
but  the\'  are  now  too  heavy  and  dull  in  tone.  The  artists  succeeded  in  the 
composition  by  simplicit)-  of  arrangement,  and  understood  how  to  combine  a 
fitting  solemnity  with  the  power  of  telling  the  story  attractive!}-,  and  often  even 
with  much  sprightliness  and  life.  The  several  episodes  of  the  story  arc  nai\el\- 
introduced  in  the  same  picture,  as  in  Herod's  feast,  where  the  daughter  of 
Herodias  appears  three  different  times,  first  dancing,  in  an  attitude  which  the 
artist  might  have  seen  among  the  strolling  acrobats  of  his  day  ;  next,  leaning 
on  her  mother's  bosom  and  receiving  her  treacherous  counsel  ;  and  thirdl}', 
bearing  the  head  of  John  the  Baptist.  The  softer  and  slenderer  proportions 
which  mark  the  approach  of  the  Gothic  style  already  begin  to  appear,  and  also 
the  attempt  to  give  a  tenderer  expression  to  the  heads.  The  cast  of  the 
draperies  is  quiet  and  dignified  throughout. 

To  the  twelfth  century  belong  the  remains  of  the  Last  Judgment  in  the  east- 
ern apse  of  the  cathedral  of  Obermianstcr  at  Regensburg  {Ratisboii),  in  southern 
German)- ;  but  a  somewhat  later  picture  of  the  Outpouring  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
which  was  lately  found  in  the  Anna  chapel  of  the  same  church,  is  better  pre- 
served. The  pictures  in  the  granary  near  the  church  at  Perschen,  in  the  Upper 
Palatinate,  are  ascetic  in  conception,  but  well  carried  out  in  a  severe  style  , 
their  subjects  are  Christ  in  the  niaiidorla  (still  the  beardless  t)-pe)  sur- 
rounded b}-  the  Apostles  ;  on  the  dome  are  two  rows  of  pictures  representing 
Mary  with  angels  and  female  saints.*''"'  A  larger  series  of  early  thirteenth- 
century  pictures  is  to  be  found  in  the  once  ro\-al  chapel  at  I'orchheim  in 
Franconia  :  it  contains  prophets,  the  Annunciation,  the  Adoration  of  the 
Magi,  and  the  Last  Judgment,  all  tolerably  well  executed.  To  this  time  also 
belongs  a  stately  but  badly -preserved  work  in  Bohemia,  the  decoration  of 
the  chapel  under  the  south  tower  of  the  church  of  S.  George,  on  the  Hradschin 
at  Prague. 

In  Austria  .should  be  mentioned  a  cycle  of  late  twelfth-century  pictures 
illustrating  the  childhood  of  Christ,  in  the  tower  arches  and  porcli  of  the  cathe- 
dral at  Lambach.  One  or  two  .scenes  onl)-,  from  liic  stor}-  of  the  Three  Kings, 
which  is  tokl  in  detail,  arc  still  i)rcserved  :  the  costumes  and  conceptions  are 
still  quite  after  the  ICarl}'  C'liristiaii  models,  such  as  we  find  in  the  Catacombs, 
A  magnificent  work  of  German  art  from  tlic  extreme  south-castcin  iVonlier 
belongs   to   the   close  of  this  period  ;    this  is  the  decoration  of  the  walls  of  the 


3IO 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


nuns'  choir  in  the  cathedral  at  Gurk  in  Carinthia.*^"  On  the  east  wall,  above 
the  opening  of  the  arch  which  looks  into  the  nave,  rises  a  painted  structure, 
consisting  of  seven  slender  arcades  on  steps,  which  are  ornamented  with  the 
lions  of  Solomon,  and  containing  in  the  midst  the  seated  Madonna  and  Child  ; 
over   their  heads   are   seven   doves   symbolising   the   gifts   of  the  Holy   Spirit  ; 


©  m  (^b  M 


Fig.  86. 


behind  and  beside  the  back  of  the  throne,  eight  crowned  women  representing 
the  Virtues  (Fig.  86).  In  the  spandrils  of  the  arch  under  the  throne  are  two 
small  figures  of  donors — Bishop  Dietrich  of  Salzburg  (we  cannot  tell  whether 
the  first  or  the  second  of  that  name),  and  Otho,  the  provost  of  the  cathedral, 
who  was  elected  bishop  A.D.  12 14,  but  died  before  his  consecration;  so 
the  mitre  is  placed  near  his  head,  but  not  on  it.  Splendour  and  dignity  of 
design  have  been  attained  here  with  the  simplest  materials  ;  the  gestures  are 
expressive  and  entirely  without  stiffness  ;   a  transition   towards  the  Gothic  style 


MEDI.-EVAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD.  311 

begins  to  show  itself  in  the  full  angularly  broken  draperies,  the  slim  propor- 
tions, the  graceful  architectural  forms  with  very  slender  columns  and  rich 
arcadings,  but  more  especially  in  the  deeper  feeling  which  the  artist  has 
expressed  in  the  wa\-  in  which  he  makes  Mary  caress  her  Child.  The  pictures 
on  the  two  other  walls  of  the  eastern  division  no  longer  exist  ;  of  those  from 
the  story  of  Adam  and  Eve  in  the  vaulting  only  three  are  preserved — the 
Creation  of  Eve,  the  Admonition  of  Adam  and  Eve,  and  the  Fall  :  the 
nude  figures  are  not  unskilful.  An  arch  with  a  picture  of  Jacob's  ladder 
leads  to  the  east  end  ;  in  the  three  engaged  arches  are  the  Adoration  of 
the  Magi,  the  Entrance  into  Jerusalem,  and  the  Transfiguration  ;  with  these 
a  frieze  ^ith  medallions  of  the  fathers  and  saints  ;  in  the  vaulting  is  the 
New  Jerusalem,  with  angels.  Apostles,  and  four  large  towers  rising  up  towards 
the  Lamb  of  God  in  the  centre.  Lastly,  the  spandrils  contain  figures  of  the 
prophets. 

In  France  wall-paintings  are  not  quite  so  common  :  there  are  fewest  in  the 
south,  and  the  central  provinces  contain  the  most  important  existing  examples. 
Those  in  the  chapel  at  Liget  (Jndre  et  Loire),  as  well  as  figures  of  Christ  and 
several  saints  in  the  old  circular  church  of  S.  Jean  at  Poitiers,  date  from  the 
beginning  of  the  twelfth  century.*^^  A  series  in  the  church  of  S.  Savin  in 
Poitou  {Vietme),  and  in  which  the  architectural  parts  were  all  decorated  with 
colour,  seems  still  more  advanced.  The  porch  contains  Christ  enthroned,  and 
scenes  from  the  Apocalypse  ;  the  columns  and  architraves  in  the  interior  are 
painted  with  scrolls  and  streamers  ;  the  vaultings  of  the  middle  aisle  contain 
scenes  from  the  first  and  second  books  of  Moses,  with  which  are  connected 
pictures  in  the  choir  from  the  New  Testament.  In  the  crypt  we  find  legends 
of  S.  Savinus,  the  patron  saint  of  the  church,  and  of  S.  C)-prian.  The 
compositions  are  of  the  utmost  symmetry,  and  always  carried  out  in  the  flat 
decorative  style.  The  slimness  of  the  figures,  which,  with  all  their  crude 
incorrectness,  begin  to  show  motives  of  some  insight,  and  even  of  some  senti- 
ment, point  to  the  twelfth  century  as  the  date  of  these  works.  The  scale  of 
colour  is  very  limited,  with  rough  drawing  in  red-brown  outlines  ;  reddish 
and  yellowish  tones  predominate.''" 

In  Holland  wall-paintings  were  discovered  at  the  pulling  down  of  the 
church  of  S.  John  at  Gorkum  (founded  a.d.  12 12,  consecrated  A.D.  1263); 
tracings  of  these  are  preserved  in  the  Library  at  the  Hague.  The\-  contained 
scenes  from  Genesis  and  the  Gospels,  and  were  examples  of  an  extremely 
barbarous  local  art  which  had  been  but  little  affected  b}-  tiie  Romanesque  style 
of  France  and  Germany.'*^ 

IV.  Patntin(;s  on  Ti.mi;i:k  Rooi's  and  Panels. — Painting  on  wood 
was  specially  used  for  the  decoralion  of  the  (lat  ceilings  of  i\omanesque 
basilicas.      Although    the    number   of    the   painted    ceilings   must,   according   to 


312  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

literary  records/^  have  been   great,   the   constantly-recurring  fires   in    mediaeval 
churches  have  allowed  but  few  to  survive. 

The  oldest  existing  examples  of  such  painting  decorate  the  flat  wooden 
ceiling  of  the  church  at  Zillis  in  the  Canton  Graubiindten.  A  double  border  of 
ribbon  plait,  zigzag  and  leaf  ornaments,  encloses  one  hundred  and  fifty-three 
square  compartments  containing  figure  pieces  ;  those  nearest  to  the  choir  con- 
tain personifications  of  Christianity  and  Judaism,  then  follow  the  kings  of  the 
Old  Testament,  and  then  scenes  from  the  New.  As  each  field  allows  room  for 
onl}'  a  few  figures,  the  same  subject  sometimes  extends  over  several.  Fantastic 
animals,  sirens,  and  sea-gods,  fill  the  outermost  circle.  The  pictures  appear  to 
be  of  the  twelfth  century,  but  are  still  rude  and  archaic,  and  the  proportions  of 
the  figures  weak."^ 

Among  the  best  productions  of  the  Romanesque  style  is  the  ceiling  of  the 
church  of  S.  Michael's  at  Hildesheim.  It  was  not  executed  at  the  time  the 
church  was  built  under  Bernward,  but  dates  as  late  as  after  its  restoration  in  con- 
sequence of  a  fire,  A.D.  1 1  86  (Fig.  8y).  The  subject  of  the  whole  decoration  is 
the  genealogical  tree  of  Christ,  the  Stem  of  Jesse,  which  also  appears,  as  we  have 
seen,  in  the  Mount  Athos  Manual,  but  the  subject  has  never  been  more  grandly 
designed  in  Western  art  than  it  is  here.  The  large  central  fields  of  the  ceiling, 
with  round  or  lozenge-shaped  borders,  contain  the  principal  incidents  connected 
with  the  genealogy  of  our  Lord.  The  first  of  these  is  the  Fall,  with  figures  of 
Adam  and  Eve  ;  then  Jesse  asleep  on  his  couch,  with  the  tree  growing  out  of 
his  body.  He  is  followed  by  his  son  David  on  his  throne  ;  then  come  three 
more  kings  of  his  house, — the  representation  following  the  account  of  S.  Matthew 
and  not  that  of  S.  Luke.  The  seventh  field  contains  the  seated  figure  of 
Mary,  and  the  eighth  and  last,  the  Redeemer  seated  on  a  rainbow  with  an  open 
book,  and  in  the  attitude  of  teaching.  Medallions,  placed  between  garlands  of 
leaves  in  the  outer  circle,  contain  busts  of  other  precursors  of  Christ,  and  room 
has  been  found  for  some  in  the  spandrils  of  the  large  compartments.  In  the 
spandrils  of  the  field  containing  the  Virgin,  however,  the  four  Cardinal  Virtues 
are  represented,  and  in  that  containing  Christ  the  symbols  of  the  Evangelists, 
which  also  recur  in  the  spandrils  of  the  outer  circle.  Two  continuous  bands 
between  this  outer  circle  and  the  central  fields  contain  the  four  rivers  of  Para- 
dise, the  four  Evangelists,  and  rows  of  prophets,  and  between  these  also  the 
Archangel  Gabriel  next  to  the  Virgin  :  she  is  represented  at  the  moment  of  the 
Annunciation,  and  is  spinning,  as  is  often  the  case  in  this  subject.  The 
treatment  of  the  nude  in  the  first  principal  picture  (Fig.  Sy)  renders  it 
remarkable  :  correctness  and  real  understanding  of  the  human  frame  are  not 
perhaps  attained  ;  the  heads  are  too  small,  and  knowledge  of  the  structure  of 
the  skeleton  is  wanting,  but  the  movements  are  not  awkward,  and  there  is  a 
great  advance  upon  the  ugliness  and  rudeness  of  earlier  work  of  the  same  kind. 
Anything  that    would   have   been   offensive   to  prudish   minds   is,  as    usual    in 


MEDI.*:VAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD. 


313 


CO 

tp. 


2   S 


314 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


mediaeval  art,  left  out.  The  conventionalising  of  the  trees  is  also  characteristic. 
As  a  whole,  the  ceiling  forms  one  of  the  foremost  examples  of  severe  architec- 
tural arrangement  and  artistic  distribution  in  the  whole  range  of  mediaeval 
painting.  The  principal  figures  rise  to  a  noble  dignity,  the  drawing  is  assured 
and  light,  despite  heavy  outlines  and  excessive  richness  of  drapery  ;  the  pure 
colouring  is  harmonious  and  powerful."^ 

About  this  time  independent  panel  pictures  also  appear  in  the  churches,  at 


FicT.  88. 


first  not  in  the  form  of  altar-pieces,  but  of  antependia,  which  covered  the  lower 
part  of  the  front  of  the  altar,  as  a  substitute  for  drapery.  Two  works  of  this 
kind  from  Soest  belong  to  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century.  One  of 
these  was  formerly  in  the  Walpurgis  monastery,  and  is  now  in  the  Museum  at 
Miinster  ;  it  contains  Christ  enthroned  with  four  saints  ;  the  other  was  taken 
from  the  Wiesenkirche,  and  is  now  in  the  Berlin  Museum  ;"*  the  central  picture 
contains  a  Crucifixion  with  several  figures,  among  which  two  are  personifica- 
tions of  the  Church  and  the  Synagogue  ;  and  in  the  side  compartments,  which 
are  of  circular  shape  set  in  square  borders,  Christ  before  Caiaphas  and  the 
Maries  at  the  Sepulchre.      The  paintings   are   on   a  gold   ground,  with   smaller 


MEDLEVAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD.  315 

pictures  in  the  spandrils,  and  enclosed  with  beautiful  leaf  ornament.  A  Byzan- 
tine motive,  appropriated  and  often  repeated  by  Western  art,  has  suggested  the 
seated  angel  on  the  tomb  ;  but  the  artistic  value  of  this  figure,  the  gently  bowed 
head,  the  noble  repose  of  the  attitude,  the  hand  pointing  backwards  across  the 
knees,  has  been  accentuated  by  the  painter's  own  genius,  and  the  tall  figures, 
in  their  carefully  elaborate  draperies,  are  full  of  a  refined  and  natural  feeling 
(Fig.  8S).  A  somewhat  later  antependium  in  the  Church  of  our  Lady  at  Liin, 
near  Luneberg,  shows  a  similar  st)'lc  in  the  figures,  but  is  already  influenced  by 
Gothic  architectural  forms.  The  centre  contains  representations  of  the  Trinity 
and  the  Crucifixion,  and  at  the  sides  four  pictures  from  the  childhood  of  Christ, 
and  four  from  the  Passion.  In  the  cathedral  at  Worms  we  also  find  in  the 
Baptistery  two  panel  pictures  dating  from  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century  ; 
on  one  side  of  the  panel  are  Peter  and  Paul,  and  on  the  other  Stephen  and  a 
bishop,  so  that  they  must  have  formed  the  movable  doors  of  a  shrine  or  case 
for  a  sculptured  figure.  Remains  of  an  antependium  of  stone  occur  in  the 
shape  of  ten  slabs  of  slate  painted  with  the  Apostles,  in  the  church  of  S. 
Ursula  at  Cologne  ;  one  of  them  bears  on  the  back  the  date  1224.  They  are 
painted  in  tempera,  with  heavy  outlines  on  a  blue  ground,  formerly  ornamented 
with  gold  rosettes. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

PAINTINGS   ON   GLASS. 

Introduction  of  glass-painting — Its  origin  ;  question  of  priority  between  France  and  Germany — Its  technical 
methods — Its  decorative  style  and  treatment — Eleventh-century  vifindows  at  Augsburg  and  Wenvv^eiler 
— Eleventh-century  windows  at  Le  Mans — Twelfth-century  windows  at  Angers  and  St.  Denis — Twelfth- 
century  windows  at  Chartres  and  Vendome — Windows  of  the  same  period  at  Canterbury — Later 
examples  at  Strassburg  and  elsewhere  in  Germany — Grisaille  system  of  glass -painting  adopted  to 
conform  with  the  Cistercian  rule ;  examples  in  France,  Germany,  and  Switzerland. 

A  NEW  branch  of  art  was  developed  during  the  Romanesque  period  in  the  shape 
of  glass-painting.  This  art  at  first  occupied  a  modest  position  compared  to 
wall-painting,  but  soon  became  an  essential  part  of  the  interior  decoration  of 
buildings.^^ 

Glass-painting  proper  was  preceded  by  a  transparent  mosaic  made  with 
pieces  of  coloured  glass  in  purely  ornamental  patterns.  This  was  in  use  as 
early  as  the  first  Christian  times,  and  is  as  old  as  the  employment  of  glass 
itself  for  windows.  But  it  is  not  our  purpose  to  inquire  into  the  origin  of  the 
art.  Real  painting  on  glass  began  only  with  the  discovery  of  a  colour  which 
could  be  applied  to  the  material.  Till  then,  the  representation  of  true  pictures 
on  glass  was  impossible.  The  first  examples  that  have  come  down  to  us  are 
of  no  earlier  date  than  the  eleventh  century,  and  even  of  this  period  examples  are 
extremely  rare.  Historical  records,  however,  show  that  glass-painting  was 
carried  on  as  early  as  the  end  of  the  tenth  century,  perhaps  even  earlier,  but 
many  ninth-century  accounts  leave  it  doubtful  as  to  whether  they  refer  to  real 
pictures,  or  only  to  patterns  of  coloured  glass.  Not  even  the  celebrated  pass- 
age in  a  letter  of  acknowledgment  from  the  Abbot  Gozbert  of  Tegernsee  (a.D. 
983-1001)  to  Count  Arnold,  a  benefactor  of  the  monastery,  is  quite  certain  in 
its  meaning.  The  writer  congratulates  himself  in  that,  thanks  to  Count  Arnold, 
the  golden  sun  has  for  the  first  time  shone  down  upon  the  pavement  of  the 
church  through  painted  panes  of  many  colours  {discoloria  picturarmn  vitro),  so 
that  the  hearts  of  men  have  been  filled  with  manifold  delight  in  contemplating 
the  variety  and  beauty  of  the  effect."*^  Figure  subjects  are,  however,  distinctly 
mentioned  by  the  monk  Richer,  of  S.  Remy  at  Rheims,  when  he  says  that 
Bishop  Adalbero  (ad.  968-989)  had  lighted  up  the  church  with  windows 
containing  diverse  histories  {fenestris  diversas  contmentibiis  historias)P  Whether 
this  art  was  first  practised  in  France  or  Germany  is  a  question   that   has   given 


MEDLEVAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD.  317 

rise  to  much  debate.  One  French  writer,  Labarte,  has  lately  assigned  the 
priority  to  German)-,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  same  honour  has  been  done 
to  France  by  German  scholars,  and  among  them  by  Schnaase.  In  any  case 
the  general  relation  of  the  two  countries  towards  the  art  is  that  expressed 
by  the  monk  Theophilus,  who  speaks  in  the  introduction  to  his  Manual  of  the 
love  of  France  for  "the  rich  variegation  of  windows,"  and  again  says  that  "the 
French  is  the  nation  most  skilled  in  this  art." 

The  technical  process  of  the  new  art,  which  Theophilus  describes  in  detail, 
remains  a  combination  of  mosaic  (only  a  mosaic  of  good-sized  instead  of 
minute  pieces  of  glass)  and  painting.  On  a  wooden  table,  upon  which  the 
design  to  be  reproduced  was  exactly  drawn,  were  laid  sheets  of  glass  ;  upon 
these  the  required  outlines  were  first  traced  through  in  liquid  chalk,  and  then 
they  were  cut  out  with  a  red-hot  iron — the  use  of  the  diamond  for  cutting  glass 
being  not  yet  known.  Various  colours  of  glass  were  available  ;  as  red,  blue, 
green,  yellow,  and  violet.  The  pieces  thus  cut  to  the  required  shape  were 
again  arranged  upon  the  table,  and  the  drawing  and  shading  needed  within  each 
piece  were  added  in  a  dark  enamel.  For  this  shading  only  one  colour  was 
known,  namely  a  black  lead  composed  of  oxide  of  copper  mixed  with  equal 
parts  of  green  and  blue  glass.  The  painting  was  then  burnt  in,  and  the 
separate  pieces  fastened  together  by  a  lead  framing.  Theophilus  goes  on  to  sa}' 
how  this  single  brown  enamel-colour  for  shading  can  be  made  to  produce  three 
different  effects  according  as  it  is  either  laid  on  in  thick  hatchings,  or  evenly 
spread  in  a  thin  tone,  or  broken  by  the  scratching  out  of  lights  upon  it.  The 
method  above  described  underwent  no  alteration  till  the  end  of  the  thirteenth 
centur\-.  For  all  its  simplicity,  it  exactly  meets  the  requirements  of  the  art  as 
practised  according  to  its  true  laws.  Indeed  the  art  of  glass-painting  in  its 
purity  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  outlasted  the  continuance  of  this  treatment. 

The  tapestry-like  style,  with  ornaments  and  figures  treated  as  though  all  on 
one  plane,  without  perspective  or  recession,  which  prevails  in  mediaeval  wall- 
paintings,  is  also  the  rule  in  painted  glass.  Each  window  has  the  effect  of  a 
drapery  or  hanging  placed  before  an  opening  in  the  wall,  and  possessing  the 
advantage  of  transparency.  Hence  each  has  to  be  treated  as  a  whole — to  be 
separately  framed  and  harmoniously  divided.  Single  windows  grouped  or  in 
correspondence  must  be  made  also  to  agree  in  general  treatment,  within  which, 
however,  there  may  be  as  lively  a  variation  of  separate  motives  as  in  the  sculp- 
tured details  of  the  architectural  features.  The  decorative  purpose  demands  a 
careful  distribution  of  the  several  colours.  Large  spaces  of  one  colour  are 
avoided  ;  the  intensity  of  particular  colours,  depending  on  the  various  degrees 
of  light  whicli  the)'  transmit,  determines  the  extent  to  wliich  the)-  are  used  and 
the  modes  of  tlieir  combination.  Narrow  hands  of  neutral  colour  soften  the 
contrasts  of  those  more  intense,  and  make  it  possible  to  use  them  near  together. 
The  black-lead  pigment  .serves  not  only  to  express  drawing  and  shadow,  but  also 


3i8  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

to  tone  down  the  positive  colours.  Backgrounds  are  not  uniform,  but  broken 
in  some  kind  of  simple  and  regular  diaper.  This  was  the  only  way  of  lowering 
the  force  of  the  blue  which  usually  predominated  in  the  ground,  or  the  intense 
glow  of  the  red.  In  the  figure  parts  of  the  compositions  the  repetition  of  the 
ground-colours  was  naturally  avoided,  or  at  least  limited  as  much  as  possible. 
When  the  grounds  are  kept  dark  and  quiet,  a  lighter  treatment  is  usual  in  the 
borders,  with  a  greater  variety  in  the  colours  and  ornamental  motives.  Even 
if  the  circumstance  that  each  piece  or  pane  in  the  picture  can  be  only  of  one 
colour  leads  to  certain  inconveniences — as,  for  instance,  to  that  appearance  of 
spectacles  which,  when  the  glass-painter  wishes  to  show  the  whites  of  the  eyes, 
results  from  the  lead  framing  by  which  he  has  to  separate  them  from  the  rest 
of  the  face  (see  Fig.  89) — -even  if  this  is  so,  the  consequences  are  not  parti- 
cularly disturbing.  The  lead  lines  themselves  become  a  part  of  the  drawing, 
and  in  the  same  way  the  iron  horizontal  rods,  with  which  all  large  windows  were 
divided  into  smaller  fields,  often  became  the  cause  of  a  corresponding  subdivision 
of  the  compositions,  and  produce  then  the  effect  of  dark  lines  worked  into  the 
border  of  each  such  subdivision.  The  unerring  mediaeval  instinct  of  style  was 
thus  in  all  cases  able  to  make  a  virtue  of  necessity. 

At  first  an  essentially  surface  character,  akin  to  that  of  textile  work,  prevails 
in  the  patterns  of  backgrounds  and  borders.  If  architectural  forms  are  used, 
it  is  with  great  reserve,  and  only  in  such  a  way  as  not  to  interfere  with  the 
purity  of  the  flat  style  of  decoration.  In  the  same  way  the  figures  are  never 
more  than  slightly  modelled,  and  never  occupy  more  than  a  single  plane.  The 
designs  are  limited  to  a  few  single  figures  in  repose,  which  are  strictly  com- 
posed within  the  border  which  binds  the  whole  together,  and  not  allowed  to 
assert  themselves  in  independent  prominence.  It  is  only  on  these  terms  that 
glass-painting  is  able  to  complete  and  harmonise  the  system  of  coloured 
decoration  in  an  architectural  interior.  By  help  of  colour  the  transparent  and 
the  untransparent  surfaces  of  the  structure  are  united  into  one  mighty  whole,  of 
which  the  richness  culminates  in  the  windows,  with  their  panes  of  many  hues 
giving  passage  to  the  radiance  of  the  day. 

Remains  of  eleventh-century  glass  have  been  found  both  in  France  and 
Germany,  the  German  remains  being  in  truth  probably  somewhat  the  earlier. 
Five  narrow  upper  windows  in  the  cathedral  at  Augsburg  are  filled  with 
pictures,  which  by  their  character  should  belong  to  about  the  middle  of 
the  eleventh  century,  and  may  therefore  very  well  date  from  A.D.  1065,  in 
which  the  church  was  consecrated  under  Bishop  Embrico,  These  pictures 
represent  five  Old  Testament  figures,  without  any  ornamental  additions  or 
coloured  background,  seen  in  front  view,  in  postures  of  the  strictest  symmetry, 
with  full  oval  faces,  straight  noses,  small  mouths,  and  large  plump  hands,  and 
standing  on  hilly  ground,  indicated  by  a  conventional  leaf  ornament  raised  in 
the  centre  (Fig.  89)."^     A  kindred  though  somewhat  later  example  may  be  seen 


MEDL-EVAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD. 


319 


l^ 


i-A' 


i1 


y^^ 


m 

^ 


-^•0, 


If:^- 


in  the  chapel  of  S.  Sebastian  in  the  rear  of  the  church  of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul 
at  Neuweiler  in  Elsass  (eleventh  century).  In  a  small  semicircular-headed 
window  stands  the  figure  of  S.  Timotheus  the  mart\-r,  seen  in  full  front,  in 
blue  tunic  and  green  cloak  on  a  red  ground  ;  the  hair  is  curiously  treated  in 
small  curls,  and  the  left  hand  raised  with  a  ceremonial  gesture.  The  whole 
is  enclosed  with  a  simple  border  of  leaf-work."'^ 

In  France,  the  cathedral  of  Le  Mans,  a  Romanesque  building  which  was 
completed  about  A.D.  1093  under  Bishop  Hoel,  and  is 
said  in  old  records  to  have  lost  its  glass  by  a  fire, 
A.D.  I  I  36,  still  however  possesses  a  fragment  of  the  earlier 
period,  which  has  been  subsequently  inserted  in  a  window 
in  the  Gothic  Lady  Chapel  at  the  end  of  the  choir.  The 
composition  must  evidently  have  represented  the  Ascen- 
sion, although  nothing  is  now  visible  but  the  twelve 
Apostles  in  two  rows,  and  in  the  centre  of  the  lower  row 
the  Virgin  crowned.  The  figures  correspond  to  the  French 
miniatures  of  the  time  ;  they  stand  on  hilly  ground  look- 
ing upwards,  with  outstretched  arms,  and  with  vehement, 
almost  affected  movements.  The  draperies  are  remark- 
able for  the  coloured  horizontal  bands  which  cross  them 
everywhere,  and  from  their  tightness  at  the  knees.  Blue 
and  red  stripes  alternate  in  the  background  the  borders 
are  formed  of  leaf-work  at  the  top,  and  of  small  yellow 
bosses  on  blackish  fields  at  the  bottom.'^'' 

From  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century  stained 
glass  becomes  much  more  frequent  in  France.  The  cathe- 
dral of  Angers  still  possesses  four  windows  of  the  time 
of  Bishop  Ulger  (a.d.  ii  25-1  149),  with  scenes  from  the 
legends  of  the  Virgin  and  SS.  Catherine,  Vincent,  and 
Laurence,  in  small  medallions,  on  a  blue  ground  with  broad 
borders.  Still  more  important  are  the  glass-paintings 
in  the  abbey  church  of  S.  Denis.  The  famous  Abbot  Suger  (/;.  .\.l).  108  i,  {/. 
A.D.  I  151)  had  decorated  the  walls  of  the  church  in  their  entire  extent  with 
painted  windows,  employing  upon  the  work  masters  "  of  different  nations,"^^  con- 
sequently Germans  as  well  as  Frenchmen — as  indeed  he  had  already  in  his 
service  German  enamel-workers  from  Lotharingia.  Most  of  this  beautiful  work 
has  disappeared  by  degrees,  and  since  the  destruction  of  the  church  during 
the  Revolution,  it  has  only  been  possible  rcccnth-  to  restore  single  windows  to 
their  places  in  the  choir  chapels.*'"^  The  choir  of  S.  Denis,  which  was  coniplclcd 
A.D.  I  144,  shows  the  first  di-stinct  beginnings  of  the  Gothic  style.  But  although 
the  new  architectural  princij^les  a.s.sert  themselves  in  the  ground-plan,  in  the 
vaultings,    and     in     forms    directly    corresponding    to    construction,    still    they 


i\ 


Fig.  89. 


320 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


have  not  yet   affected   the    art    of  glass- painting. 


Fig.  90. 


Only  a  more  highly  de- 
veloped decorative  feel- 
ing makes  itself  felt,  here 
as  at  Angers,  in  contra- 
distinction to  older  works. 
The  dimensions  are  mod- 
erate ;  the  ground  is  pat- 
terned with  red  stripes 
on  blue,  crossing  each 
other  so  as  to  form  dia- 
monds,and  enclosed  with- 
in a  light  -  toned  leaf 
border  ;  on  the  ground 
there  are  nine  medallions, 
the  three  upper  contain- 
ing only  decorative  pat- 
terns, and  the  six  lower, 
figure  scenes.  One  win- 
dow  (Fig.  90)  shows  the 
Annunciation,  with  a  fig- 
ure of  the  abbot  prostrate 
at  the  Virgin's  feet,  and 
in  this  attitude  encroach- 
ing in  an  unusual  way 
upon  the  border  ;  the 
Adoration  of  the  Magi  ; 
the  Ark  of  the  Covenant 
with  the  cross  growing 
up  out  of  it,  at  the  top 
a  half-length  of  Christ, 
and  at  the  corners  the 
symbols  of  the  Evange- 
lists ;  also  Christ  with  a 
wheel  on  his  breast  con- 
taining the  gifts  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  the  shape 
of  doves,  uncovering  the 
personification  of  the  Sy- 
nagogue and  crowning 
that  of  the  Church.  The 
two  lowest  pictures,  from 
the  legend  of  the  Theban 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD. 


.^2  1 


Legion,  do  not  belong  to  this  set ;  this  is  also  the  case  in  another  window  with 
subjects  from  the  storj-  of  Moses,  where  a  scene  from  the  Apocalypse  has  been 
inserted  which  originally  belonged  elsewhere.  Several  windows  are  purely 
decorative  in  style,  containing  onl\-  griffins  in  lozenge-shaped  fields. 

We  find  the  same  style  in  some  windows  of  S.  Pere  {Pierre)  at  Chartres,  of 
the  time  of  the  abbot  Stephen  (a.D.  i  172-1  193)  ;  and  also  in  the  abbey  church 
of  the  Trinity  at  Vendome,  about  A.D.  i  1 80,  where  there  is  a  Madonna  and  Child 
in  a  mandorla  borne  by  four  angels  ;  this  is  interesting  as  an  early  attempt  at 
a  larger  composition,  but  it  fails  from  stiffness  and  unnatural  attenuation  of  the 
forms. ^^  Lastly,  the  most  important  remains  of  the  period  are  three  large 
windows  in  the  west  front  of  the  cathedral  at  Chartres,  which  date  from  the 
building  of  the  front  in  question  (it  was  begun  A.D.  i  145).  The  lower  part  of 
middle  window  exhibits,  in  round  fields  alternated  with  square,  scenes  from  the 
stories  of  the  Virgin  and  Christ,  and  the  upper  part  a  Madonna  similar  to 
that  at  Vendome.  The  two  side  windows  contain  the  genealogical  tree  of 
Christ,  as  it  is  portrayed  in  the  ceiling  of  Hildesheim,  and  also  the  Passion  in 
small  rounds.  The  Madonna  alone  is  archaic  and  rigid,  and  stands  on  about 
the  same  artistic  level  as  the  sculptures  on  the  doorway  at  Chartres  ;  all  the 
smaller  paintings  are  much  more  free  in  style  ;  while  for  splendour  of  colour  these 
three  windows  far  surpass  all  those  of  the  best  Gothic  time  in  this  cathedral.^* 
While  the  earlier  Romanesque  style  had  filled  its  small  windows  with  single 
figures,  the  larger  windows  of  the  late  Romanesque  and  early  Gothic  styles  in 
the  twelfth  century  had  necessitated  another  mode  of  treatment ;  and  hence  was 
worked  out  the  ornamental  or  tapestry  style  proper,  illustrated  in  the  examples 
last  described,  in  which  figure  scenes  are  almost  always  placed  in  small 
medallions  and  interstices,  and  a  purely  decorative  arrangement  prevails. 

In  England  painted  glass  was  introduced  from  France  with  the  early  Gothic 
style.  Here  the  existing  windows  of  the  side  aisles  of  the  choir  of  Canterbury 
Cathedral,  which  was   completed  A.D.  i  i  80,  correspond  with  those  of  S.  Denis. 

Windows  in  the  fully-developed  Romanesque  style  are  preserved  in  different 
places  in  Germany,  but  are  not  commonly  of  earlier  date  than  the  end  of  the 
twelfth  or  first  half  of  the  thirteenth  century.  To  this  period  belong  some 
fragments  in  the  Strassburg  Minster,  which  however,  as  is  well  known,  lost  so 
much  that  was  precious  during  the  bombardment,  A.D.  1870.  In  the  south 
transept  stand  the  armed  and  knightly  figures  of  SS.  Victor  and  Maurice 
under  plain  round  arches  ;  the  architectural  border,  too,  which  is  here  cmplo}-cd 
in  contrast  to  the  merely  geometrical  ornamentation  of  the  P'rench  windows, 
is  kept  entirely  in  the  flat  style.  But  little  later  are  the  Dux  AcJiacius  and 
Dux  Marcus,  for  whom  a  place  has  been  made  in  the  third  north  window  of  the 
nave,  beside  other  figures  of  the  fourteenth  century  ;  and  also  figures  of  those 
three  kings  in  the  west  window  f)f  the  north  side  ?ds,\c—Henricus  rex  (Henry  I.), 
Fridericus  rex  (Frederick  I.  or   II.  ?),  and   Ilenricus  Babenbergensis   (Henry  II.) 

2    T 


32  2  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

These  kings  are  represented  in  dignified  attitudes,  with  slender  proportions, 
the  feet  pointing  downwards ;  each  bearing  the  insignia  of  his  kingdom,  and 
richly  apparelled  in  a  long,  wide-bordered  tunic  and  the  pallium.  The  quiet 
motives  and  regular  style  of  the  draper}^  show  no  traces  yet  of  the  Gothic  vehe- 
mence, so  that  these  figures  contrast  strikingly  with  the  fourteenth-century 
examples,  with  which  they  are  directly  associated  (Fig.  91).  The  old  framings 
are  not  preserved.'''^  Figures  of  princes  of  the  house  of  Babenberg,  with  Roman- 
esque frames,  in  the  chapter-house  of  the  Cistercian  monastery  of  the  Holy  Cross 
in  Austria,  exhibit  a  similar  style.^^  In  North  Germany  should  be  mentioned  the 
three  choir  windows  in  the  church  at  Bucken  on  the  Weser,  also  the  middle 
choir  window  of  the  church  at  Leyden  in  Westphalia,  the  remains  in  the  choir  of 
the  minster  dedicated  to  S.  Patroklus  at  Soest,  and  lastly  two  small  fragments 
perhaps  of  a  Stem  of  Jesse,  in  the  church  at  Veitsberg,  near  Weida.'*'^  The 
three  choir  windows  in  the  church  of  S.  Cunibert  at  Cologne,  completed  a.d. 
1247,  supply  a  model  of  artistic  arrangement  and  harmonious  colour-effect 
The  centre  window  represents  incidents  from  the  stories  of  Mary  and  Christ, 
surrounded  with  pictures  of  the  prophets  ;  the  two  others  contain  the  legends 
of  Cunibert,  the  patron  saint  of  the  church.  In  the  church  at  Heimerscheim 
on  the  Ahr  the  two  circular  windows  in  the  centre  of  the  choir  are  still  enriched 
with  pictures  of  this  period,  one  with  Gospel  scenes  like  those  of  S.  Cunibert, 
and   the  other  with  figures  of  saints.^^ 

A  peculiar  principle  of  ornamentation  had  meantime  been  developed  by  the 
Cistercians.  The  rule  of  this  order,  which  deprecated  all  pomp  and  splendour 
in  the  decoration  of  the  house  of  God,  forbade  also  colour  and  figure-painting 
in  the  windows.^^  But  it  seemed  compatible  with  this  rule  to  attempt  to  soften 
and  break  the  light  and  produce  a  pleasant  effect  by  purely  decorative  patterns 
in  a  grey  monochrome.  France  possesses  examples  of  this  twelfth  century 
grisaille  glass  in  the  convents  of  Boulieu  {Creiize),  Obasine  {Corrcse),  Pontigny, 
and  others,  but  the  finest  are  in  the  cloister  windows  of  the  cathedral  at  Heili- 
genkreuz  (first  half  of  the  thirteenth  century).  These  farther  contain  admirably- 
drawn  Romanesque  leaf-ornament  in  greenish-grey  tones  with  brown  shading, 
and  a  very  slight  and  cautious  use  of  brighter  colours.  In  the  cloister  windows 
of  the  monastery  at  Wettingen  in  Switzerland  this  style  is  almost  modified 
away.  These  windows  probably  date  from  the  period  between  the  first  conse- 
cration of  the  building,  A.D.  1256,  and  its  second  consecration  after  the  erection 
of  new  annexes.  By  this  time  the  rule  of  which  we  have  spoken  was  not  so 
strictly  observed.  The  north  wing  of  the  cloister  only  belongs  still  to  the 
thirteenth  century,  and  even  this  preserves  but  few  fragments  of  the  early 
glass,  which  in  the  treatment  of  leaf-ornament  stands  on  the  borders  of  the 
Romanesque  and  Gothic  styles,  and  is  not  in  grisaille  throughout,  but  occasion- 
ally admits  other  colours,  and  sometimes  even  figures,  such  as  busts  of  Christ 
and  Mary,  and  the  Madonna  and  Child  enthroned.^*^ 


MEDL-EVAL  PAINTLXG— CENTRAL  PERIOD. 


3^3 


Fig.  91. 


CHAPTER   v.. 

ITALY. 

(ntroductory ;  anarchy  of  Italy  in  this  age — Degeneracy  of  the  clergy — Cities  and  a  few  monasteries  the 
only  homes  of  art — Character  of  architecture — Character  of  sculpture  and  painting — Rude  Native  or 
Italo-barbarous  style  ;  eleventh-century  wall-paintings  at  Rome — Mosaic  pavements  in  North  Italy — 
Mosaic  pavements  in  South  Italy — Rude  Italian  miniatures ;  MSS.  of  the  hymn  Extdtet — MS.  poem 
in  honour  of  the  Countess  Matilda — No  improvement  except  that  due  to  Byzantine  influence  ;  relations 
of  Byzantium  and  Italy — Introduction  of  Byzantine  productions  and  designs  to  Venice — Bronze  doors 
ordered  from  Byzantium  for  churches  and  monasteries  in  South  Italy,  in  the  eleventh  centuiy — But 
manufactured  by  native  Italian  masters  in  the  twelfth  —  Stimulus  given  to  art  by  Desiderius,  Abbot 
of  Monte  Cassino — Nothing  left  of  the  monastery  as  embellished  by  his  order — Extant  remains  of 
this  age;  Lower  Italy — Wall-paintings  oi  San  Angela  in  Formis  at  Capua — Probably  executed 
by  Italians  under  Greek  influence — Wall-paintings  at  Foro  Claudio,  Calvi,  and  Barletta — Rarity  of 
pictures  in  glass  mosaic — Frequency  of  decorations  in  marble  mosaic  ;  their  analogy  with  similar  work 
at  Rome — Romk  and-  Central  Italy  ;  revival  of  glass  mosaic  in  the  twelfth  century — Mosaic  pictures 
in  church  of  S.  Clement — Of  Santa  Maria  in  Trastevere — Of  Santa  Maria  Nuova — Style  of  these 
mosaics — Evidence  in  them  of  Byzantine  influence,  perhaps  communicated  from  Lower  Italy — Mosaics 
of  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century  in  and  about  Rome — Mosaic  of  the  Cathedral  of  Spoleto — 
Other  and  ruder  mosaics  of  the  same  class — Panel-paintings,  and  especially  crucifixes,  under  Byzantine 
influence  —  Sicily;  assimilation  of  Greek  and  Arab  elements;  industries  of  silk  and  weaving  — 
Embroidered  imperial  robes  of  Sicilian  manufacture — The  art  of  mosaic  under  the  Norman  dynasty ; 
palace  of  Roger  I.  at  Palermo — The  Capella  Palatina — The  Cathedral  of  Monreale — Character  of 
these  mosaics — Total  decline  of  art  in  Sicily  in  the  thirteenth  century — Venice  ;  her  leaning  towards 
Byzantine  art — The  mosaics  of  S.  Mark's  ;  their  rich  but  heterogeneous  character — Mosaics  at  Murano 
and  Torcello — Mosaics  at  Trieste  and  Parenzo — Conclusion. 

Italy,  in  spite  of  her  close  political  connection  with  Germany,  had  hitherto 
taken  no  part  in  the  artistic  activities  of  the  North.  Although  the  people 
united  rare  spiritual  gifts  with  alertness  of  the  senses  and  practical  skill, — 
although  the  reminiscences  of  antique  manners  and  culture  still  lingered  among 
them,  and  a  beneficent  climate  might  naturally  have  awakened  in  them  that 
free  spirit  of  enjoyment  from  which  the  desire  for  art  spontaneously  springs, — 
yet  art  in  Italy  had  sunk  to  a  lower  level  than  in  almost  any  other  country. 
While  the  northern  nations  were  wrestling  against  barbarism,  in  enfeebled  and 
exhausted  Italy  all  moral  and  political  ties  were  in  a  state  of  dissolution. 
While  France  and  Germany  were  consolidating  themselves  into  nations,  Italy 
lay  reft  in  pieces.  Superior  political  authority  could  be  exercised  only  by  a 
foreign  power — the  German  Empire — and  that  only  in  one  part  of  the  penin- 
sula, while  party  warfare  still  went  on  between  the  petty  territorial  powers  of 
Northern  and  Central  Italy.  Southern  Italy  was  still  under  Greek  rule,  but 
later  became  in  part  the  spoil  of  the  Arabs  and  then  of  the  Norman  conquerors  ; 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD.  325 

and  when  at  last  the  Norman  inheritance  fell  to  the  Imperial  house  of  Hohen- 
staufen,  that  house  was  itself  too  much  shaken  on  its  own  soil  to  be  able  to 
incorporate  its  South  Italian  possessions  with  the  original  constituent  parts  of 
the  Empire. 

To  the  general  break-up  of  social  discipline  corresponded  the  deterioration 
of  the  clerg)',  whose  ignorance,  licentiousness,  and  want  of  religious  feeling 
continually  increased.  The  Papacy,  which  in  all  the  rest  of  Christendom  was 
revered  as  the  highest  spiritual  authority,  was  for  the  Italians  a  temporal 
power  like  any  other,  and  was  tossed  to  and  fro  like  a  plaything  in  the  strife 
of  parties.  Efforts  to  reform  the  Church  from  above  downwards  were  due-  to 
foreign  initiative,  especially  to  that  of  the  German  Pope  Leo  IX.,  and  encoun- 
tered in  Italy  itself  the  bitterest  opposition.  Their  persistent  continuation 
under  Gregory  VII.  led,  however,  in  the  long  run  to  the  excessive  exaltation 
of  the  spiritual  pov/er,  and  therewith  to  the  disastrous  wars  between  the  Papacy 
and  the  Empire. 

In  the  midst  of  all  this  confusion  one  element  alone  in  the  body  politic  was 
capable  of  becoming  the  depository  of  national  culture — namely,  the  towns. 
These  developed  themselves  in  a  spirit  contrary  to  that  of  feudalism,  and  based 
their  progress  on  the  traditions  of  ancient  municipal  institutions,  on  Roman 
law,  and  regular  financial  administration  They  defended  themselves  at  first 
within  their  own  small  districts,  until  in  the  second  half  of  the  twelfth  century 
they  acquired  more  extended  political  power  by  forming  leagues  with  one 
another.  Now,  too,  they  became  true  homes  of  art,  the  practice  of  which  in 
Italy  was  not  in  any  decisive  degree  either  determined  by  the  Church  or 
furthered  by  Courts.  The  prosperity  of  the  cities — a  prosperity  resting  on 
industry,  trade,  and  commerce — this,  together  with  their  civic  pride,  called  forth 
creations  of  art  which,  even  when  their  purpose  was  ecclesiastical,  bore  the 
character  of  public  monuments  of  the  commonwealth.  Besides  the  cities, 
there  were  also  a  few  leading  monasteries  which  in  their  character  of  free 
ecclesiastical  communities  exercised  an  important  influence  on  art. 

The  efforts  thus  inspired  by  municipalities  and  monasteries  were  in  the  first 
place  directed  towards  architectural  monuments  and  their  decoration.  The 
special  note  of  the  Northern  Romanesque  architecture, — the  complete  organic 
working-out  of  the  constructional  scheme  and  its  members,  the  uniformity  and 
consistency  of  development  which  underlie  local  variations  in  the  management 
of  the  style, — this  note  was  indeed  absent  here.  Separate  districts  in  Italy 
preserve  their  separate  characters,  and  are  at  most  related  in  the  general  features 
of  their  architecture.  The  buildings  of  this  age  in  Ilal}',  even  if  in  many 
places  they  appear  merely  as  a  continuation  of  early  Christian  architecture,  or 
in  others  show  the  influence  of  Northern  Romanesque,  l^yzantine,  or  Arabian 
examples,  derive  a  peculiar  interest  from  the  variety  of  their  plan,  their  hajipy 
proportions,  in  which   the  natural  genius  of  an  individual  master  often  declares 


326  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

itself,  and  also  from  their  richness  of  decoration,  in  which  we  can  still  often 
trace  the  heritage  of  the  antique  world  in  technical  secrets  and  in  the  feeling 
for  design. 

Italian  sculpture  and  painting,  on  the  other  hand,  remain  on  a  lower  level, 
and  cling  to  the  characters  of  rudeness  and  barbarism  in  a  manner  not 
exampled  in  the  early  works  of  northern  nations.  These,  at  least,  hav^e  an 
inward  purpose,  and  exhibit  an  earnest  endeavour  after  expression,  while 
Italian  work  of  the  same  time  is  purely  mechanical,  produced  by  a  mere 
customary  trick  of  craftsmanship,  and  bearing  the  stamp  of  dull  indifference 
and  blunted  sensibilities.  Where  the  desire  for  something  better  arose,  it  only 
led  at  first  to  the  acquisition  of  some  foreign  work  of  art.  Trading  and 
maritime  towns  like  Venice,  Genoa,  Pisa,  and  Amalfi,  which  had  relations  with 
distant  countries  and  conducted  the  carrying-trade  of  the  world,  took  advantage 
of  their  position  to  import  foreign  works,  and  rested  satisfied  with  these.^^ 

At  Rome,  where  barbarism  was  at  its  deepest,  and  where  even  architec- 
ture at  this  period  betrays  its  incapacity,  we  cease  for  a  considerable  time 
after  the  ninth  century  to  find  any  traces  of  activity  in  mosaic  work.  No 
important  monuments  of  art  have  been  left  by  the  periods  of  sweeping  Church 
reform  under  Leo  IX.,  and  of  war  against  the  Empire  under  Gregory  VII. 
A  few  wall-paintings  in  Rome  and  its  neighbourhood  form  but  a  poor  sub- 
stitute for  mosaics,  and  these  are  only  slight  sketchy  productions,  with  flat 
figures  and  coarse  outlines.  Some  in  the  Benedictine  monastery  of  S.  Elias, 
near  Nervi,  reproduce  in  subject  and  conception  what  we  are  accustomed 
to  see  in  mosaics  ;  they  bear  the  signatures  of  two  painters,  brothers  of 
the  order,  from  Rome,  named  Johannes  and  Stephanus,  as  well  as  that  of 
the  nephew  of  the  former,  Nicolaus  ;  they  probably  belong  to  the  tenth  century. 
The  little  church  of  San  Urbano  alia  Caffarella,  an  ancient  mausoleum  near  the 
Via  Appia  at  Rome,  contains  scenes  from  the  life  of  Christ  and  from  sacred 
legend,  a  Christ  enthroned  between  Peter  and  Paul,  and  a  Crucifixion  with 
figures  ;  an  inscription  of  doubtful  authenticity  mentions  as  author  one  brother 
Bonizzo,  A.D.  loii.^'  Wall-paintings  from  the  church  of  S  Agnes,  with 
scenes  from  the  legends  of  SS.  Catherine  and  Agatha,  have  been  transferred 
to  the  Christian  Museum  of  the  Lateran.  Paintings  in  the  lower  church  of  the 
basilica  of  S.  Clement  in  Rome  belong  to  various  periods,  but  the  latest  do 
not  go  beyond  the  eleventh  century  ;  they  contain  chiefly  legendary  scenes 
from  the  stories  of  S.  Clement  and  the  Slav  apostles  Cyril  and  Methud ;  the 
work  is  poor  and  in  a  bad  state.'*^ 

A  skill  which  was  practised  on  about  the  same  level,  almost  exclusively 
in  Italy,  in  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries,  was  that  of  mosaic  work  for 
pavements.  Of  this  the  pavement  of  S.  Gereon's  at  Cologne  has  already 
shown  us  an  offshoot  ;  it  is  an  example  of  the  survival,  in  a  very  rude  form, 
of  what  the  ancients  called  opus  vermiculatiiin,  that   is,  mosaic  made  with  little 


MEDL^VAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD.  327 

rods  of  stone.  This  kind  of  work  habitually  begins  by  the  demarcation  of 
outlines  ;  here  also  it  adopts  the  same  procedure,  and  exhibits  clumsy  figures 
scantily  coloured  within  coarse  black  outlines  on  a  white  ground.^'*  This  kind 
of  work  probabl}'  originated  at  Ravenna  and  spread  thence,  chiefly  over 
Northern  Italy  ;  examples  are  to  be  found  in  S.  Michael's  at  Pavia,  on  the 
monument  of  the  Countess  Matilda  {d.  A.i).  i  i  i  5)  in  SaJi  Benedetto  di  Polirone  at 
Mantua,^^  in  the  cathedrals  of  Pesaro,  Cremona,  Novara,  Ivrea,  Aosta,  and  in 
the  church  of  S.  Savino  at  Piacenza.  The  subjects  are  noticeable,  inasmuch 
as  they  are  the  same  which  had  been  chosen  for  this  purpose  ever  since  the 
days  of  early  Christian  art.  The  mosaic  pavement  of  a  church  founded 
A.D.  652  at  Sur  {Tyre),  which  was  excavated  and  brought  to  France  by  Rcnan,. 
contains  medallions  of  the  Months,  Seasons,  and  Winds  ;  and  in  the  same 
way  we  constantly  find  in  the  Italian  mosaics  personifications  of  the  Year  and 
the  Months,  and  frequently  also  scenes  of  country  occupation  corresponding  to 
the  several  months,  like  those  with  which  we  are  familiar  in  miniatures  (Pavia, 
Piacenza,  S.  Benedetto,  Aosta).'^'^  There  are  also  allegories  of  the  triumph  of 
the  Virtues  over  the  Vices,  or  of  the  Vices  at  war  with  each  other  (Cremona)  ; 
lastly,  we  find  even  the  mythological  subject  of  the  Labyrinth  with  Theseus 
and  the  Minotaur,  who  is  represented  as  a  Centaur  (Pavia). 

Some  mosaic  pavements  in  the  South  are  much  more  barbarous  still ;  that,  for 
instance,  in  the  cathedral  of  Otranto,  executed  A.D.  i  163-1  166,  under  Bishop 
Jonathas  by  a  priest  named  Pantaleon,  and  another  in  the  cathedral  at  Brindisi, 
founded  A.D.  i  178  by  Archbishop  Giulielmo.  In  both  of  these  the  principal 
divisions  are  formed  by  gigantic  trees  resting  upon  elephants,  and  extending 
far  into  the  nave,  the  branches  are  alive  with  animals  of  all  kinds  ;  these 
motives  are  borrowed  from  the  designs  of  Oriental  carpets.  In  the  centre  aisle 
at  Otranto  there  are  medallions  with  the  signs  of  the  zodiac,  the  months,  battle 
scenes,  and  other  profane  subjects,  while  the  south  aisle  exhibits  Paradise  and 
Hell,  the  former  with  the  souls  of  the  blessed  in  the  bosom  of  the  patriarchs, 
and  the  latter  with  Satan  enthroned,  devils,  and  the  souls  of  the  damned  with 
serpents  wound  about  them.  At  Brindisi  there  remain  only  some  fragments, 
with  pictures  from  the  Old  Testament  side  b\'  side  with  scenes  from  the  legend 
of  Roland,  which  was  revived  again  at  that  time  by  the  Crusaders.  The  rude- 
ness and  weakness  of  the  swollen  figures  cannot  be  outdone,  and  the  design  is 
wanting  even  in  a  just  feeling  for  decorative  arrangement."' 

Miniature-painting  also  remains  at  a  very  low  stage  during  the  whole  of 
this  period.  The  art  was  less  encouraged  An-  purposes  of  courtl)'  lu.\ur\-  in 
Italv  than  elsewhere,  and  was  not  until  the  fourteenth  century  brought  to 
such  a  degree  of  perfection  as  to  be  coini)aral)le  to  the  works  of  the  northern 
nations.  In  the  eleventh  and  tuclflh  centuries  Italian  illumination  contents 
itself  in  the  main  with  rude,  slightly  coloured  pen-drawings,  and  in  the  orna- 
mental   initial    letters    is    surpassed   even   by   the    wcjrks   of  the   conteniptjrary 


328  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

Lombard  school  which  we  have  already  considered.  The  most  interesting  of 
these  sketchy  productions  are  the  different  copies  of  the  Exultet,  a  hymn  for 
Easter  night,  so  named  from  its  opening  w-ord ;  among  them,  those  in  the 
Minerva  Library  in  Rome  and  in  the  cathedral  treasury  at  Pisa  belong  to  the 
eleventh  century,  and  those  in  the  Barberini  Librar}^  at  Rome  and  in  the 
cathedral  at  Salerno  to  the  twelfth.^^  The  subjects  generally  represented 
are  the  Fall,  the  Crucifixion,  the  victory  of  Christ  over  Hell,  his  descent 
into  Limbus,  also  the  Pope,  the  Emperor,  and  other  exalted  personages  for 
whom  prayers  were  inserted  ;  and  again,  personifications  of  the  Earth,  with 
bulls,  deer,  and  even  serpents,  sucking  at  her  breasts,  religious  ceremonies,  such 
as  the  reading  of  the  hymn  itself,  which  a  priest  unrolls  from  a  staff;  the 
consecration  and  lighting  of  the  Easter  taper  ;  lastly  a  picture,  suggested  by 
the  last,  of  the  breeding  of  bees,  the  habits  of  bees  being  taken  as  a  type  of 
the  discipline  of  the  Church.  The  pictures  are  upside  down  in  the  text,  so 
that  they  could  be  rightly  seen  on  the  portion  of  manuscript  which  hung 
down  from  the  roll  w^hile  the  priest  read.  The  outlines  are  coarsely  marked 
and  rudely  coloured,  the  figures  awkward  and  without  settled  proportions, 
the  heads  quite  devoid  of  expression,  and  yet  the  motives  have  occasionally 
the  merit  of  lively  action.  We  discern  an  echo  of  Carolingian  work  in  the 
ornamental  borders  round  the  text  as  well  as   in  the  initial  letters. 

It  is  needless  to  enumerate  more  of  these  rude  Italian  miniatures.  We  will 
only  say  one  word  of  a  Vatican  manuscript,  dated  A.D.  i  i  15,  of  the  poem  of 
Donizo  in  honour  of  the  Countess  Matilda.^^  This  copy  was  executed  for  the 
countess  herself,  and  corrected  by  the  author,  a  monk  of  Canossa  ;  it  is  also 
on  a  very  low  artistic  level,  but  shows  some  care  at  least.  The  dedication 
picture  exhibits  Matilda  enthroned,  and  Donizo  handing  her  the  book  ;  the 
remainder  of  the  pictures  give  her  genealogy,  and  members  of  her  family  in 
various  situations.  One  in  which  the  Count  Tedaldus  and  the  Countess 
Julia  are  enthroned  at  the  top  of  the  page,  with  their  sons  at  the  bottom 
(Fig,  92)  is  a  particularly  characteristic  example.  The  standing  figures  are 
stiff,  and  those  sitting  are  kept  too  much  in  the  flat ;  they  are  drawn  mechani- 
cally but  yet  affectedly — witness  the  figure  of  Tedaldus  with  the  impossible 
position  of  his  legs.  The  faces  are  all  of  one  paltry  mould,  the  shape  a 
weakly  rounded  oval,  the  nose  short ;  a  heavy  awkwardness  of  gesture  accom- 
panies the  expressionless  heads  ;  the  costumes  are  carefully  executed,  but  hang 
on  the  figures  in  a  rough,  formless  way,  without  any  attempt  at  a  cast  of  drapery. 
The  folds  are  only  indicated  by  black  or  red  lines,  the  flesh  tones  by 
coarse,  ungradated  patches  of  red,  and  the  colouring  is  harsh  and  crude  in 
spite  of  a  body-colour  of  uniform  impasto.  The  pictures  are  not  more  barbaric 
than  the  Latin  of  the  poetry. 

The  Italians  were  not  capable  of  working  their  own  way  out  of  this 
rudeness    of   conception    and    execution.       An   improvement    in    their    works 


MEDLEVAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD. 


329 


first  begins  with  the  appearance  of  a   Byzantine   influence.     We  have  traced 
the    operation    of    a    similar    influence   in    Germany,    where,   by    holding    up 


yCDALoas  orAwrbto.    GviLLly\CO 


Fig.  92. 

good  models,  it  gave  an  impulse  to  original  creation,  and  appears  always 
assimilated  and  transformed  without  having  led  to  a  bald  imitation  of  foreign 
examples.  In  Italy,  however,  matters  stood  otherwise,  and  foreign  influences  for 
the  present  supplanted  the  native  jjower  of  production  instead  of  re-vivifying  it. 

2  U 


330  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

We  have  seen  that  writers  on  the  history  of  art  have  often  gone  too  far  in 
trying  to  prove  the  influence  of  Byzantine  upon  Italian  work  in  much  earlier 
times.  Existing  monuments  have  taught  us  that  there  can  be  scarcely  any 
question  of  this  influence  even  in  the  period  immediately  following  the 
iconoclastic  disputes.  The  relations  of  Italy  with  Byzantium,  however,  were 
continued,  in  spite  of  all  difierences,  through  the  political  connection  of  part  of 
the  peninsula  with  the  Eastern  Empire,  as  well  as  through  pilgrimages,  and 
the  intercourse  necessary  for  trade  and  commerce.  We  know  too,  as  a  fact, 
that  very  many  Byzantine  monks  had  made  their  way  to  Italy  in  the  days  of 
the  iconoclastic  schism  ;  and  that  Pope  Paul  I.  (a.d.  757-768)  founded  the 
monaster}^  of  SS.  Stephanus  and  Silvester  at  Rome,  and  established  there  Greek 
monks,  who  observed  their  own  ritual.^*'^  But  there  are  no  traces  existing 
of  any  art  exercised  by  such  colonies  of  monks.  If  many  Greek  expres- 
sions relating  to  art  appear  in  the  Roman  Liber  pontifical  is,  this  is  not  a  point 
of  great  importance,  since  certain  technical  words  were  common  to  all  nations 
then  as  they  are  now.  The  same  may  be  said  of  many  formulae  of  the 
Church,  and  of  some  Scripture  names.  Just  as  from  the  earliest  days  of 
Christianity  there  had  been  in  use  a  monogram  of  Christ  formed  of  Greek 
initials,  so  in  later  times  the  employment  of  Greek  characters  for  certain  Bible 
names  and  words  in  a  manuscript  does  not  necessarily  point  to  a  Greek 
authorship. 

At  a  somewhat  later  period,  however,  that  Is,  occasionally  after  the  begin- 
ning of  the  tenth,  but  to  a  much  greater  extent  after  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh 
century,  we  do  find,  both  from  historical  sources  and  from  the  monuments  them- 
selves, undoubted  evidence  of  the  influence  of  Byzantine  art  in  Italy.^*^^ 

Venice,  in  whose  hands  was  the  chief  part  of  the  maritime  commerce  with 
the  East,  constantly  imported  objects  of  luxury,  and  among  them  also  objects 
of  art,  from  Byzantium.  It  was  natural,  therefore,  that  the  monumental 
works  of  art  intended  to  decorate  the  public  buildings  of  the  city  should  be 
ordered  from  Constantinople,  where  they  could  be  bought  in  the  highest 
degree  of  perfection.  The  order  for  the  great  enamel  altar  in  S.  Mark's,  the 
Pala  d'oro,  probably  dates  as  far  back  as  the  Doge  Pietro  Orseolo  (A.D.  976), 
although  the  work  may  have  only  assumed  its  present  form  by  a  restoration 
in  the  twelfth  century.  When  S.  Mark's,  the  greatest  monument  of  the  city, 
was  rebuilt  in  the  eleventh  century,  the  work  was  carried  out  according  to  a 
Byzantine  ground-plan  and  Byzantine  designs,  which  makes  of  it  a  building 
unique  in  Italy.  As  its  columns  were  brought  from  Greece,  so  its  details  and 
decorations  generally  are  also  in  the  Byzantine  style. 

We  also  find  still  the  evidences  of  orders  for  Byzantine  works  of  art, 
especially  in  Southern  Italy,  where  the  most  important  existing  monuments 
of  this  origin  are  various  bronze  gates,  executed  not  in  beaten  work  like 
the  Italo-barbarous  gates  of  the  church  of  S.  Zeno  at  Verona,  but  with  designs 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD.  331 

engraved,  and  having  their  Hnes  inlaid  with  silver,  after  the  manner  of  Oriental 
damascene  work.  Most  of  these,  according  to  inscriptions,  were  dedicated 
by  members  of  the  rich  and  famous  family  of  the  Pantaleone  in  Amalfi,  a 
town  which  for  maritime  trade  and  commerce  stood  until  A.D.  11 35  in  the 
same  rank  as  Genoa,  Pisa,  and  Venice.  The  door  of  the  cathedral  at  Amalfi 
was  completed  before  A.D.  1066.  The  abbot  Desiderius  of  Monte  Cassino, 
according  to  the  testimony  of  his  biographer  Leo,  had  the  doors  of  his  abbey 
church  made  at  Constantinople  after  the  same  pattern  at  the  expense  of 
Maurus,  son  of  Pantaleon,  and  sent  thither  the  necessary  measurements.  Again, 
according  to  their  inscription,  the  doors  of  the  pilgrim's  church  of  Monte  San 
Angela  at  Siponto,  were  completed  A.D.  1076  in  "the  royal  city"  of  Constanti- 
nople, those  of  Atrani  at  Amalfi  A.D.  1087,  and  those  of  Salerno  A.D.  1084, 
in  the  same  city.  Lastly,  Maurus  of  Amalfi,  one  of  the  same  family,  presented 
a  similar  work  A.D.  1070  to  the  church  of  Saii  Paolo  fnor  le  vnira  in  Rome, 
where  it  was  injured  by  a  fire  in  the  year  1822,  but  was  found  again  in  1873, 
and  is  now  to  be  seen  in  the  monastery.  In  this  case  even  the  name  of 
the  bronze-founder,  Stanrakios,  is  given  in  a  Greek  inscription.  Some  Greek 
words  occur,  too,  in  other  inscriptions  on  these  works,  but  Latin  is  much  more 
common  ;  the  Byzantine  metal-workers  conformed  themselves  in  these  matters 
to  the  nationality  of  their  employers.^*^'-^ 

What  makes  it  necessary  for  us  to  consider  these  authenticated  works  of 
Byzantine  origin,  although  they  do  not  belong  immediately  to  the  branches  of  art 
which  are  our  proper  concern,  are  the  conclusions  to  which  they  point  as  to  the 
results  of  such  a  transplantation  of  Byzantine  art  to  Italy.  If  works  of  this  class 
were  supplied  exclusively  from  Constantinople  in  the  second  half  of  the  eleventh 
century,  by  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century  we  find  artificers  of  Lower 
Italy  themselves  practising  the  craft.  On  the  doors  of  the  mausoleum  of 
Boemund  {d.  A.D.  1 1  i  i)  at  Canossa  stands  the  signature  of  one  Rogerius  of  Amalfi  ; 
on  the  principal  door  of  the  cathedral  at  Troja,  completed  A.D.  i  i  19,  and  again 
on  the  south  side  door,  completed  A.D.  i  i  27,  Oderisius  of  Benevento  names  him- 
self as  the  master.  These  examples  are  of  the  same  workmanship  as  the  Byzan- 
tine doors,  and  closely  allied  to  them  in  style,  but  they  also  show  Arab  influences 
in  the  ornamentation.  Later,  however,  this  beaten  work  takes  the  shape  of  sculp- 
ture in  high  relief,  as  in  the  great  door  of  the  cathedral  at  Ravello,  completed 
A.D.  I  179,  the  small  door  of  the  church  at  Monreale  in  Sicily,  and  that  of  the 
cathedral  of  Trani;  the  in.scriptions  on  all  these  give  the  name  of  Barisanus  of 
Trani  as  maker.  Some  Greek  words  are  still  to  be  found  in  these  inscriptions; 
in  general  the  proportions,  the  drapery,  the  types  of  the  heads,  and  also  the 
iconographical  treatment  of  some  of  the  Scripture  scenes,  still  correspond  with 
Byzantine  style,  but  greater  life  in  the  composition  and  the  strong  sculpturesque 
relief  arc  new. 

Commissions,  such  as  those  wc  have  mentioned,  for  works  of  art  from  Con- 


332  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

stantinople,  always  came  from  individuals  of  wealth,  distinction,  and  political 
or  ecclesiastical  eminence  ;  the  Italian  artists  did  not  at  first  themselves  feel 
the  need  of  leaning  on  foreign  help.  But  they  knew  how  to  learn  from  foreign 
models  as  soon  as  they  were  put  before  them.  One  man,  whose  efforts  in  this 
direction  surpassed  all  others,  and  who  took  a  prominent  place  in  the  history 
and  spiritual  life  of  Italy  at  that  time,  was  the  abbot  Desiderius  of  Monte 
Cassino,  an  account  of  whom  is  given  by  his  pupil  Leo  in  the  Chronicle  of  the 
monaster}'.^"^  The  great  abbot,  of  the  noble  house  of  the  princes  of  Benevento, 
not  only  re-established  order  and  discipline  in  his  monastery,  but  also  encou- 
raged learning,  and  was  bent  above  all  on  the  artistic  enrichment  of  his  abbey. 
When  with  this  object  he  set  on  foot  the  rebuilding  of  the  church  and  monas- 
tery, A.D.  1066-107  I,  he  sought  everywhere  for  the  best  sources  that  money  and 
power  could  procure.  In  Rome  he  was  able,  by  his  personal  influence,  his  con- 
nections and  his  wealth,  to  obtain  columns  and  other  coloured  marbles,  taken 
evidently  from  ancient  buildings.  Other  things  he  procured  in  Constantinople, 
where  he  sent  his  own  brother  with  a  letter  of  introduction  to  the  Emperor,  and 
with  sufficient  pecuniary  means.  As  formerly  he  had  ordered  the  bronze  doors 
for  his  abbey  to  be  made  there,  even  before  he  contemplated  its  general  rebuild- 
ing, he  now  commissioned  a  piece  of  altar-furniture  in  gold,  set  with  precious 
stones  and  enamels,  a  bronze  tabernacle  with  candelabra  and  hanging  lamps, 
bronze  choir-presses,  great  crosses  of  wrought  silver,  and  many  more  such 
articles  of  church  decoration.  But  for  mosaic  pictures  and  pavements  in 
marble  mosaic,  he  was  forced  to  take  into  his  service  artists  who  came  from 
Byzantium  and  carried  on  their  work  at  Monte  Cassino  itself.  His  biographer 
says  he  did  this,  because  Rome  had  let  drop  the  cultivation  of  these  arts  for 
five  hundred  years  and  more  [qiioniam  artiiim  istarum  ingenium  a  quingentis  ct 
ultra  iani  annis  Magistra  Latinitas  intermiserat)}^^  At  the  same  time  he  took 
care  that  they  should  not  still  further  decline  in  Italy  by  having  a  great 
number  of  young  men  in  the  monastery  instructed  not  only  in  these  arts,  but 
also  in  goldsmith's  work,  in  metal-work  of  all  kinds,  glass-work,  modelling, 
carving  in  wood  and  ivory  as  well  as  in  stone  ;  from  all  which  the  happiest 
results  ensued. 

The  modern  Baroque  building  at  Monte  Casino  has  left  nothing  of  the 
monastery  as  it  existed  at  the  time  of  Desiderius,  except  the  doors  above 
mentioned.  The  pavements  of  the  church  and  many  adjacent  chambers  were 
once  adorned  with  marble  mosaics  ;  figure  subjects  decked  the  painted  timber 
roof,  mosaics  filled  the  apex  and  arch  of  the  tribune,  and  enriched  the  upper 
part  of  the  vestibule  and  the  fagade,  and  beneath  them  in  each  case  were 
paintings  from  the  Old  Testament  ;  and  lastly,  the  refectory  too  was  adorned 
with  wall-paintings.  Let  us  turn  now  from  examples  that  have  disappeared,  to 
those  that  have  been  preserved. 


MEDLEVAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD. 


333 


I.  South  Italy. — For  what  has  perished  at  Monte  Cassino  we  must  try  to 
find  some  little  compensation  in  the  wall-paintings  of  the  church  of  San  Angela 
in  Formis,  at  Capua,  founded  by  Desiderius,  and  consecrated  A.D.  1075. 
Within  the  vestibule,  in  the  semicircular  tympanum  over  the  principal  entrance, 
is  a  half-length  figure  of  the  archangel  Michael  in*  full  face,  wearing  a  rich 
Byzantine  court  costume  ;  over  him  the  adoring  Virgin  within  a  circle  upheld 
by  two  angels  ;  the  wall-paintings  at  the  sides  are  occupied  with  the  legends 
of  the  hermits  Paul  and  Anthony.  In  the  interior  the  Old  Testament  pictures, 
all  but  a  few  fragments,  have  disappeared  from  the  side  aisles  ;  the  middle 
aisle  contains,  first,  figures  of  prophets  in  the  spandrils  of  the  arcades,  and 
over  the  two  rows  of  narrative  pictures  from  the  Gospels.  The  Crucifixion, 
with  many  figures,  shows  the  established  motives  of  Mary  and  John,  the  Sun 
and  Moon,  the  soldier  with  the  spear,  the  weeping  Maries,  soldiers,  and 
those  who  cast  lots  for  the  raiment  of  Christ  ;  the  figure  of  Christ  is  undraped, 
but  still  represented  upright  with  the  four  nails.  The  looks  of  sorrow  and 
indignation  are  really  well  expressed  in  many  of  the  figures.  In  the  apse 
Christ  is  enthroned  with  the  open  book  between  the 
symbols  of  the  Evangelists,  under  him  three  angels  stand 
in  devotional  attitudes  and  ceremonial  costumes,  like  the 
angel  at  the  entrance  ;  sideways  from  these  are  S.  Bene- 
dict and  the  abbot  Desiderius,  with  a  square  nimbus  and 
the  model  of  the  church.  Turning  round  to  face  the 
entrance  wall,  you  find  it  adorned  with  the  most  important 
painting  in  the  whole  vestibule  —  a  colossal  and  well- 
distributed  composition  of  the  Last  Judgment  (arranged 
as  in  Fig.  93).  At  the  top,  in  the  spaces  next  the 
windows,  appear  angels  with  shawms  (i),  and  under  these 


there    runs   a   narrow  frieze  with    figures   rising   from    the 


?^ 


7~^ 


rT 


10 


J'"ig-  93- 


dead  (2).  The  centre  of  the  wall  is  occupied  by  Christ 
in  judgment  seated  within  the  niandorla ;  the  gestures  of  the  hands  are 
those  which  are  invariably  used  to  express  his  calling  the  righteous  to  him, 
and  motioning  the  wicked  away  (3).  At  each  side  are  adoring  angels  bowing 
down  to  him  (4),  and  under  them  the  Apostles  seated  (5).  The  centre  of  the 
next  tier  contains  three  angels  with  scrolls,  the  midmost  angel  holding  his 
sword  aloft  with  both  arms  in  an  attitude  of  much  grandeur  (6) ;  at  either  side 
stand  the  comj)any  of  the  Blessed,  among  whom  bishops,  princes,  and  ecclesi- 
astics are  to  be  seen  (7)  drawing  the  lost  souls  away  in  terror  (8).  The 
close  of  the  design  to  right  and  left  of  the  door  represents  the  gardens  of 
Paradise  (9)  and  Hell  (ic\  Satan  is  seen  seizing  upon  the  naked  souls  of 
the  damned,  and  among  them  Judas,  as  they  arc  thrown  down  into  the  jaws 
of  the  pit.'"'' 

These  paintings  can  scarcely  have  been  executed  by  Greeks,  but  were  very 


334  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

likely  the  work  of  artists  trained  under  Byzantine  masters,  whose  influence 
shows  itself  not  only  in  occasional  Greek  inscriptions,  but  even  more  in 
the  severe  architectural  arrangement  of  the  pictures,  in  the  typical  concep- 
tion of  certain  scenes,  as  well  as  in  the  costumes  and  actions.  The  drawing 
however,  is  vulgar,  the  nude  primitively  treated,  the  handUng  coarse  enough, 
and  rendered  inharmonious  by  the  underlying  green  preparation  which  appears 
through  the  flesh-colour,  and  by  harsh  contrasts  in  the  draperies.  The  Italian 
pupils  of  the  Greeks  could  not  at  once  shake  off  their  native  rudeness,  and  the 
Byzantines  themselves  no  longer  stood  at  the  same  high  level  as  in  the  days  of 
Theophanp,  when  their  influence  touched  the  arts  of  Germany.  They  had  already 
fallen  into  a  mode  of  practice  skilful  indeed,  but  purely  mechanical  and  lifeless. 

These  pictures  of  San  Angela  in  Formis  are  not  isolated  in  Lower  Italy.  Next 
to  them  come  those  in  the  contemporary  church  of  Santa  Maria  la  Libera  at  Foro 
Claudio  near  Sessa.^^*^  The  Virgin  with  the  draped  infant  Christ  is  enthroned  in 
the  apse  between  two  worshipping  angels  ;  below  stand  the  Apostles  separated 
by  the  archangel  Michael.  The  gestures  are  solemn  and  noble,  but  the  heads 
with  their  high  foreheads  are  too  ascetic.  The  Byzantine  character  is  less  pro- 
minent in  works  of  a  somewhat  later  date,  such  as  the  pictures  in  the  crypt  of 
the  cathedral  of  Calvi,  in  the  same  neighbourhood,  and  in  those  of  the  church 
of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  at  Barletta  on  the  Adriatic,  both  of  which  are  of  the 
twelfth,  or  even  as  late  as  of  the  thirteenth  century. 

The  remains  of  mosaics  in  Lower  Italy  are  unimportant.  Of  about  the 
same  artistic  merit  as  the  pictures  in  San  Angela  in  Forniis  is  one  of  a  Virgin  and 
Child  between  John  the  Baptist  and  John  the  Evangelist,  which  was  set  up 
in  the  cathedral  at  Capua  during  a  recent  restoration,  but  originally  belonged 
to  the  Benedictine  church  of  S.  John  in  that  place,  which  was  founded  by 
Desiderius.  An  inscription  now  lost  mentioned  both  Desiderius  and  his  suc- 
cessor Oderisius,  under  whom  the  work  was  completed  (a.D.  1087).  Its  bad  pre- ' 
servation  enables  us  to  do  it  less  than  justice.  A  fragment  in  the  cathedral  of 
Salerno  is  better.  This  is  a  half-length  figure  of  S.  Matthew  in  a  teaching 
attitude,  with  an  open  book  and  wearing  a  golden  cloak.  It  is  in  the  tympa- 
num above  the  entrance  door  on  the  inside,  and  belonged  to  the  time  of  the 
new  building  begun  A.D.  1077  under  Robert  Guiscard,  and  consecrated  A.D.  1084 
by  Gregory  VII.  The  mosaic  in  the  left  apse  near  by,  which  had  been  greatly 
injured  and  is  now  restored,  dates  from  the  close  of  this  period.  It  was  pre- 
sented after  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century  by  John  of  Procida,  the 
famous  physician  of  Salerno — called  in  the  inscription  Gemma  Salerni — an 
adherent  of  the  Hohenstaufen  and  prime  mover  of  the  Sicilian  Vespers.  At  the 
top  of  the  design  appears  the  archangel  Michael  with  outspread  wings  ;  under 
him,  and  smaller  in  size,  sits  S.  Matthew,  before  whom  kneels  the  diminutive 
donor  ;  round  about  are  the  Apostles  John  and  James  and  SS.  Fortunatus  and 
Laurence.^*^' 


MEDL^VAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD.  335 

Marble  as  well  as  mosaic  workers  had  come  from  Byzantium  at  the  call  of 
the  abbot  Desiderius,  and  the  encouragement  he  gave  to  purely  decorative 
mosaic  pavements  most  probably  accounts  for  the  new  revival  in  Lower  Italy 
of  the  optis  sectile  inajuorreum  of  the  ancients,  and  for  the  excellence  of  the  work 
produced  in  this  style  a  centurj^  later  in  the  pavements  of  the  cathedral  of 
Salerno.  And  yet  more,  we  find  a  flourishing  school  of  decorative  marble  work 
spread  over  the  greater  part  of  Southern  Italy  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth 
centuries,  and  at  the  same  time  a  corresponding  school  in  Rome  and  its  neigh- 
bourhood. Here  worked  at  this  time  the  Cosmati,  so  called  because  the  name 
Cosmas  appears  frequently  inscribed  upon  the  works  of  their  school.  They 
were  families  of  marble-workers  who  often  handed  down  their  craft  from  one 
generation  to  another.  In  their  inscriptions  they  repeatedly  give  Rome  as 
their  birthplace.  Nothing  farther  is  known  of  the  origin  of  this  school  in 
Rome,  but  the  similarity  of  forms  and  processes  shows  that  the  marble-workers 
of  Rome  and  those  of  Lower  Italy  derived  their  art  from  the  same  source. 
Some  of  the  South  Italian  examples,  however,  surpass  the  Roman  in  technical 
precision  as  well  as  in  decorative  variety  and  charm,  as  for  instance,  the  two 
splendid  pulpits  in  the  cathedral  of  Salerno,  presented  A.D.  1175.  Besides 
pavements,  examples  of  this  art  are  to  be  found  in  choir-presses,  reliquaries,  pul- 
pits, candlesticks,  and  even  in  the  inlaid  decorations  of  whole  cloisters,  carried 
out,  like  those  of  San  Paolo  fuor  le  inura  at  Rome,  with  the  greatest  beauty 
and  splendour  of  material.  The  peculiar  characteristics  of  the  work  lie  in  this, 
that  sculptures,  which  in  some  shape  or  another  had  hitherto  played  a  pro- 
minent part  in  all  combinations  of  this  kind,  have  disappeared,  and  that  the 
effect  of  the  architecture  and  its  several  members  is  now  supplemented  simply 
by  a  system  of  surface  decoration  in  marble  mosaic.  There  is  a  special  charm 
in  this  work  from  its  happy  revival  of  antique  forms,  as  well  as  from  its  richness 
of  colour  and  splendour  of  material.  If  Lower  Italy  and  the  Roman  province 
show  so  much  similarity  of  taste  in  this  branch  of  art,  it  is  no  longer  surprising 
to  find  them  alike  in  other  varieties  of  production. 

II.  Rome  and  Central  Italy. — With  the  twelfth  century  the  art  of 
glass-mosaic  had  been  revived  in  Rome  also,  where  it  had  long  lain  dormant. 

Three  great  and  pre-eminent  mosaic  pictures  belong  to  this  period — the 
tribune  of  S.  Clement's,  the  tribune  and  facade  of  Santa  Maria  in  Trastevere,  and 
the  apse  in  Santa  Maria  Niiova.  The  basilica  of  S.  Clement  was  erected  under 
Pope  Paschal  II.  (A.D.  1 099-1  i  i  8)  above  tiic  ruins  of  an  older  and  larger  church, 
on  a  higher  level.  An  inscription  in  the  apse  mentions  Anastasius,  at  that  time 
cardinal  of  S.  Clement's,  as  having  begun  and  completed  the  mosaic. ^'^^  At  the 
crown  of  the  arch  is  a  bust  of  Christ  between  the  symbols  of  the  Evangelists, 
farther  back  Paul  enthroned  with  .S.  Laurence,  and  Peter  with  S.  Clement,  to 
whom  he  points  out  the  picture  of  the   Saviour.      The   Greek   word   AGIOS,  in 


336  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

Roman  characters,  precedes  the  names  of  both  Apostles.  Lower  down  appear 
the  prophets  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah,  then  the  two  cities,  and  starting  from 
them  a  frieze  with  lambs  (restored)  runs  round  the  apse.  The  subject  of  the 
picture  in  the  apse  is  altogether  new  for  such  a  position.  Here,  where  the 
Church  triumphant  only  had  been  wont  to  manifest  itself,  is  represented  Christ 
on  the  cross,  not  indeed  in  a  manner  intended  to  realise  the  humiliating 
circumstances  of  the  Crucifixion,  but  with  ideal  glory  and  solemnity.  The 
symbolism  is  explained  in  verses  which  set  forth  how  the  Church  of  Christ  is  like 
the  vine,  which  would  have  withered  under  the  law,  but  flourished  under  the  cross. 
From  a  hill  with  plants  there  rises  a  blue  cross,  with  twelve  doves  resting  on 
its  four  arms  ;  the  crucified  Christ  is  undraped  and  fastened  to  the  cross  with 
four  nails  ;  below  him  stand  Mary  and  John.  The  four  rivers  of  Paradise  flow 
from  the  hill,  deer  are  drinking  of  their  waters,  and  along  the  lower  border  are 
ducks,  peacocks,  shepherds  with  their  flocks,  and  a  yard  with  fowls  ;  the  whole 
upper  part  of  the  apse  is  covered  with  conventionalised  garlands  of  leaves, 
meant  to  typify  a  vine  without  being  really  like  it  ;  among  them  are  scattered 
baskets  of  fruit  and  vases  of  flowers,  and  the  remaining  spaces  between  these 
are  filled,  in  the  lower  part,  with  small  figures  of  the  Christian  Fathers  and 
other  personages,  higher  up,  with  cupids  carrying  cornucopise  or  riding  on 
dolphins,  and  quite  at  the  top  with  birds. 

The  basilica  of  Santa  Maria  in  Trastevere  was  rebuilt  and  received  its  mosaic 
■ — the  most  important  of  the  period  now  engaging  us — under  Pope  Innocent  II., 
(a.D.  I  1 30-1  143),  who  appears  in  the  apse  as  donor,  holding  in  his  hand 
the  aedicula  or  symbolic  model  of  a  church,  with  six  saints,  most  of  whom 
are  Popes  ;  the  centre  of  the  apse  is  filled  with  an  imposing  group  of  Christ 
and  the  Virgin  crowned  seated  on  sumptuous  thrones  and  wearing  golden 
mantles.  The  lower  border  again  finishes  with  the  frieze  of  lambs  ;  Isaiah 
and  Jeremiah  again  appear,  too,  in  the  vaulting,  this  time  with  a  stronger 
movement,  and  at  the  top  are  the  symbols  of  the  Evangelists  on  either  side  of 
a  medallion  with  the  cross.  At  the  same  height,  on  the  front  of  the  building, 
runs  the  frieze-like  band  of  mosaic  containing  a  seated  figure  of  Mary  giving 
the  breast  to  her  Child  ;  ten  maidens  in  rich  attire  advance  towards  her.^'^^  It 
has  been  thought  that  these  were  intended  for  the  wise  and  foolish  Virgins,  but 
the  contrast  is  wanting  ;  only  two  of  them  are  without  lights.  The}'  all  wear 
the  nimbus,  and  are  evidently  saints  coming  to  do  homage  to  the  Mother  of  God. 
The  two  small  figures  of  donors  next  to  the  throne  must  be  taken  for  Innocent 
and  his  successor  Eugene  III.  (a.D.  i  145-1 153). 

The  mosaic  in  the  apse  of  Santa  Maria  Nuova,  now  San  Francesca  Roniana, 
on  the  site  of  an  ancient  temple  of  Venus  and  Roma,  has  hitherto  been  generally 
attributed  to  the  ninth  century,  but  its  agreement  with  the  works  described  is 
evident,  and  it  must  belong  to  the  time  of  Alexander  III.,  under  whom  a  con- 
secration took  place  on  the  completion  of  a  rebuilding  (a.D.  1160).'^*'      Four  of 


MEDLEVAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD. 


337 


the  Apbstles  stand  here  at  either  side  of  the  Virgin,  who  is  seen  in  full  face 
enthroned  and  crowned,  and  holding  the  draped  Child,  of  the  proportions  of  an 
adult,  in  an  animated  position  on  her  knee  (Fig.  94). 

The  style  of  these  works  is  altogether  different  from  that  of  the  Carolingian 
mosaics.  They  are  not  mere  reproductions  of  early  Roman  examples,  like  that 
in  the  apse  of  S.  Praxedis  ;  in  the  compositions  themselves  many  new  incidents 
appear.  The  richness  of  ornamentation  is  further  noticeable  ;  a  gold  ground 
shines  out  behind  all  the  figures,  as  it  did  in  the  Byzantine  work,  while  the 
craftsmen   of   Rome   long    maintained   their    partiality   for    blue    grounds.      At 


Fig.  94, 

the  crown  of  the  vault  a  richly  coloured  tent-roof  is  always  represented 
spreading  fan-wise  ;  next  under  this  runs  a  wide  border  of  plant  ornaments 
and  emblems,  with  the  hand  of  God,  or  still  oftener  with  the  Lamb  on  a 
flower-cup  in  the  centre.  Luxurious  wreaths  of  fruit  and  flowers,  with  ears  of 
corn  and  grapes  intertwined,  encircle  the  whole  design.  The  thrones  are 
designed  with  peculiar  richness  and  beauty  of  ornament.  The  feeling  for 
ornament,  which  had  indeed  already  shown  itself  in  the  picture  in  Santa  Maria 
della  Navicella,  asserts  itself  even  more  emphatically  still.  And  though  the 
suggestion  of  this  feeling  may  have  come  in  the  first  instance  from  outside,  it 
was  evidently  sustained  and  nourished  by  the  study  of  the  oldest  Christian 
mosaics  of  Rome.      We  find   these  recalled   especially  by  the  vegetable  forms  ; 

2  X 


338  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

on  the  other  hand,  in  the  columned  arcades  which  enclose  the  single  figures 
in  Santa  Maria  Nuova — not  unfitly,  since  each  figure  stands  by  itself,  with  no 
attempt  at  artistic  connection, — in  these  we  recognise  the  system  of  architec- 
tural decoration  which  we  have  already  seen  transferred  by  the  scribes  to 
the  adornment  of  their  manuscripts  (Fig.  94).  The  figures  still  preserve  a 
character  of  solemn  severity,  which,  though  conventional  enough,  constitutes 
an  advance  upon  the  barbaric  shapes  of  the  earlier  epoch.  Though  the  faces 
are  all  of  one  type,  with  long,  straight,  broad  noses,  unnaturally  small  mouths 
and  staring  eyes,  they  yet  express  the  self-contained  dignity  which  was 
desired  ;  the  gestures  are  constrained  and  set,  but  not  without  expression,  and 
in  Santa  Maria  in  Trastevere  they  often  attain  to  real  nobility.  The  antique 
cast  of  the  drapery,  if  meagre,  is  carefully  studied.  If  the  Madonna  in 
Santa  Maria  Nnova  is  rigid  and  lifeless,  that  in  Santa  Maria  in  Trastevere, 
on  the  other  hand,  has  a  solemn  dignity,  and  on  the  facade  of  that  church  a 
natural  action  appears  in  the  relations  of  the  Mother  and  Child.  The  technical 
method,  too,  is  careful  and  solid,  especially  in  the  earlier  instance, — as  indeed 
external  influences  always  act  most  powerfully  at  first.  In  Santa  Maria  Nuovo 
the  jointing  of  the  glass  cubes  already  becomes  coarser  ;  instead  of  delicate 
shadows  and  half-tones,  simple  local  colours  appear  laid  on  occasionally  in 
rough  patches  without  gradation  and  with  heavy  outlines. 

In  earlier  periods  we  found  no  trace  of  Byzantine  influence  in  the 
mosaics  of  Rome  ;  but  we  have  now  become  aware  of  such  an  influence  re- 
vivifying an  almost  extinct  form  of  art.  We  do  not  assert  that  this  is  directly 
due  to  Desiderius,  who  was  Pope  for  a  short  time  under  the  title  of  Victor  III. — 
none  of  these  Roman  works  date  so  far  back  as  to  his  pontificate  ;  but  we  do 
believe  that  the  revival  of  art  provoked  by  him  in  Lower  Italy  gradually 
extended  itself  to  Rome.  Certainly  the  artists  there  were  not  Greeks,  but  they 
were  men  who  had  come  into  contact  with  Byzantine  influences. 

Smaller  mosaic  pictures  also  appear  from  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth 
century  among  the  works  of  the  Cosmates  ;  for  instance,  the  noble  head  of 
Christ,  in  the  lunette  of  a  side  door  in  the  cathedral  of  Civita  Castellana  near 
Rome  ;  the  inscriptions  designate  this  as  the  work  of  Jacobus,  son  of  Laurentius 
of  Rome.  This  same  Jacobus  names  himself,  together  with  his  son  Cosmas,  as 
the  author  of  a  tympanum  of  less  merit  in  the  portico,  now  built  into  the 
garden-wall  of  the  Villa  Mattei.  It  belonged  originally  to  San  Tommaso  in 
Formis,  the  church  of  an  Order  chartered  A.D.  i  8  i  8,  and  devoted  to  the  ran- 
soming of  slaves,  and  exhibits  the  Redeemer  between  a  black  and  a  white 
slave. 

To  the  end  of  this  period  belong  the  mosaics  executed  under  Honorius  III. 
(a.D.  I  2  16-1227),  3^nd  especially  those  in  San  Paolo  f nor  le  mnra}^^  The  apse, 
which  escaped  the  fire,  contains  a  mosaic  of  Christ  enthroned  between  two  palm 
trees,  surrounded  by  Peter,  Paul,  Andrew,  and   Luke  ;   and  a  very  small  figure 


MEDL^VAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD.  339 

of  the  Pope  as  donor  ;  in  the  lower  border  is  an  altar  between  two  angels  and 
twelve  Apostles  and  disciples.  Of  the  facade,  where  once  were  enthroned  large 
pictures  of  the  Madonna,  John  the  Baptist,  and  the  two  chief  Apostles,  only  a 
few  heads  in  the  sacristy  remain,  but  these  bespeak  a  pure  style  of  execution. 
In  the  types,  motives,  and  drapery,  the  Byzantine  tendency  is  still  perceptible. 

The  same  tendency  appears  quite  as  distinctly  again  farther  north,  in  the 
great  mosaic  of  the  facade  of  the  Cathedral  at  Spoleto,  in  which  Mary  and  John 
stand  at  the  side  of  the  enthroned  Christ.  This  work  was  executed  A.D.  i  207  by 
a  master  named  Solsternus,  who,  in  the  self-complacent  Italian  manner,  is 
described  in  the  following  inscription  as  the  greatest  master  of  the  age  : — 

Hec  est  pictura  qvam  fecit  sat  placitvra 
Doctor  Solsternvs  hac  svmvs  iti  arte  modernvs 
annis  itivetitis  cvm  septem  mille  dvcentis. 

"  Doctor,"  we  should  explain,  is  a  word  commonly  used  in  inscriptions  both  in 
the  Latin  and  Italian  form  (in  which  form  it  is  also  employed  in  the  Com- 
mentaries of  Ghiberti),  to  signify  master.  The  lines  above  quoted  are  followed 
by  a  list,  no  longer  clearly  decipherable,  of  the  operarii  or  assistants  who  worked 
under  Solsternus.^^^ 

The  mosaics  in  the  tribune  of  the  Baptistery  at  Florence  show  already 
somewhat  more  original  character  in  the  heads,  as  well  as  less  conventional 
drapery  ;  especially  the  large  figures  of  the  Virgin  and  John  the  Baptist  in  two 
compartments  of  the  vaulting,  which  is  also  agreeably  divided  by  four  columns 
with  kneeling  men,  and  contains  in  the  centre  the  Lamb  surrounded  by  eight 
Old  Testament  figures  ;^^^  they  were  executed,  according  to  the  inscription,  by 
a  Franciscan  friar  Jacobus,  A.D.  1225. 

To  the  same  general  artistic  movement  as  these  mosaics,  though  accom- 
panied with  rude  execution,  belong  several  other  wall-paintings  at  or  near 
Rome  ;  while  in  the  dome  of  the  Baptistery  at  Parma,  Northern  Italy  possesses 
a  grand  cycle  of  pictures  dating  from   the  first  half  of  the  thirteenth  century. 

Among  panel-pictures  in  which  B}'zantine  influence  appears,  though  in  a 
far  less  pleasurable  shape,  we  may  notice  a  number  of  large  crucifixes  cut  out 
and  painted,  and  used  in  churches  as  a  substitute  for  works  in  wood-carving; 
examples  are  to  be  found  at  Lucca,  Pisa,  and  elsewhere.^^^  The  body  of  Christ  in 
all  droops  heavily  from  the  cross,  and  is  ascetic  and  ugly  to  the  point  of  rcpulsivc- 
ness.  The  ends  of  the  upper  arms  of  the  cross  are  worked  in  rounds  containing 
half-length  pictures  of  God  the  I-^ather,  Mary  and  Jolin,  and  sometimes  at  the 
sides  there  are  also  painted  little  Passion  subjects.  Several  crucifixes  by 
Giunta  Pisano  are  characteristic  of  the  class,  and  especially  one  signed  with  his 
name  in  S.  Ranierino  at  Pisa,  where  he  is  proved  by  documents  to  have  lived 
between  .\.D.  1202  and  A.i».  1255.^^''  The  endeavour  to  call  out  the  strongest 
emotion  (A  the  spectator  by  the   expression  of  cruel    torture  is  carried    here  to 


340  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

the  farthest  point.      Byzantine  influence  may  be  recognised  in   the  treatment  of 
the  bod}-,  as  well  as  in  the  consistency  of  the  vehicle  employed. 

III.  Sicily. — A  peculiar  and  exclusive  school,  having  very  little  to  do  with 
the  rest  of  Italy,  flourished  in  Sicily,  also  under  Byzantine  influence.  As  a 
consequence  of  the  continuance  of  Byzantine  supremac)^  the  Latin  element  here 
retired  more  and  more  into  the  background  beside  the  Greek  ;  and  when  the 
Arab  conquest  had  been  effected  in  the  early  half  of  the  ninth  century,  the  cities 
still  preserved,  under  the  rule  of  the  conqueror,  their  Greek  character  and 
ancient  institutions  and  industries.  Sicily  early  took  over  from  the  Byzantines 
— at  least  as  early  as  the  tenth  century — a  set  of  artistic  industries  which  first 
originated  in  Greece,  but  were  afterwards  adopted  by  the  Arabs  also,  namely  the 
industries  of  silk  and  weaving.  Again,  after  the  Norman  conquest  (a.d.  io/i), 
the  Greek  and  Arab  elements  still  continued  to  subsist  in  the  population,  the 
Greek  and  Arab  languages  held  their  own  beside  the  Latin,  the  established 
industries  continued  to  flourish,  and  the  silk  manufacture  was  encouraged  in 
Palermo  in  close  connection  with  the  Court.^^^  The  workshops  were  close  to  the 
royal  palace.  Thence  issued  the  most  splendid  products,  which  found  a  market 
throughout  all  the  West,  and  by  the  side  of  which  the  manufactures  of  other 
countries  seemed  mere  amateur  attempts.  Especially  beautiful  were  the  dresses 
embroidered  in  gold,  sometimes  with  conventional  animals  in  the  Arab  style, 
sometimes  with  figure-pieces  of  a  Byzantine  cast,  severe  in  drawing  and  highly 
finished  in  technical  execution. 

The  sumptuous  robes  of  the  Emperor  Henri  II.,  in  the  Cathedral  treasury 
at  Bamberg,  are  probably  of  Sicilian  manufacture.  This  imperial  mantle  bears 
an  inscription,  from  which  it  would  appear  that  Ismael  of  Bari  had  had  it 
made,  and  apparently  as  a  present  for  the  Emperor,  before  whom  he  had  appeared 
in  Rome  to  seek  for  help  against  the  Greeks  (a.d.  i  o  i  4).  The  design, embroidered 
in  gold  on  purple,  represents  Christ  enthroned,  surrounded  by  angels  and  the 
signs  of  the  zodiac  ;  the  inscription  calls  this  design  Descriptio  totis  orbis. 
Another  robe  is  adorned  with  crowned  figures  on  horseback,  a  third  with  the 
representation  of  the  act  of  Redemption  in  small  circles.^^^  The  Hungarian 
coronation  mantle  presented  (a.d.  103  i)  by  King  Stephen  the  Saint  and  his  wife 
Gisela,  sister  of  Henry  II.,  to  the  church  of  Huhlweisenburg  for  use  by  the 
priests  at  mass,  is  so  closely  allied  to  the  examples  already  mentioned  that  its 
origin  cannot  but  be  the  same.  It  is  now  an  open  cloak,  but  was  originally  a 
closed  casiila,  which  fell  over  the  body  in  a  bell  shape.  It  has  three  repre- 
sentations of  Christ  and  one  of  the  Madonna,  each  time  within  a  viandorla, 
the  Apostles  in  circular  borders,  friezes  with  prophets  and  animals,  and  lastly, 
on  the  lowest  border,  Stephen  and  Gisela  surrounded  by  other  royal  effigies.^^^ 

But  side  by  side  with  the  Byzantine  the  pure  Arab  taste  continued  to  exist; 
to  the  most  beautiful  examples  of  this  style  belong  some  pieces  of  the  German 


MEDL^VAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD.  341 

Imperial  state  costume,  made,  according  to  their  inscription,  at  Palermo,  in  the 
treasury  at  Vienna ;  these  consist  of  the  coronation  mantle,  with  two  gigantic 
groups  of  fighting  animals,  entirely  in  the  flat  conventional  st}'le,  dating  from 
A.D.  I  132,  and  a  white  silk  alb  from  A.D.  i  181. 

Our  subsequent  remains  of  Sicilian  painting,  from  the  beginning  of  the 
twelfth  century,  consist  of  mosaics.  Their  style  seems  to  show  that  the  earliest 
examples,  which  are  also  the  best,  were  executed  by  mosaic  workers  and 
designers  from  Constantinople  itself  Subsequently  these  were  probably 
assisted  by  native  workmen,  their  pupils,  drawn  from  the  Greek  and  Arab 
population  of  the  island.  Considering  the  extensive  series  of  works  here  pro- 
duced, it  is  natural  that  some  of  slight  merit  should  find  a  place  beside  others 
severely  drawn  and  carefully  wrought,  and  that  on  the  best  kind  the  inscrip- 
tions found  should  be  principally  Greek,  on  the  inferior  kind  Latin."^ 

Roger,  son  of  the  first  Norman  conqueror,  assumed  the  title  of  King  of 
Sicil}-,  and  to  his  brilliant  reign  (A.D,  1030-1 154)  belong  the  finest  examples  of 
Sicilian  mosaic.  A  rich  decoration  with  leaf-ornaments  and  animals  may  still 
be  seen  in  one  of  the  chambers  of  the  palace  at  Palermo  ;  it  is  like  those  that 
used  once  to  ornament  the  Imperial  palace  at  Constantinople.  Larger  and 
connected  series  of  pictures  appear  in  the  churches.  These  buildings,  in  the 
architecture  of  which  early  Christian,  Byzantine,  and  Arab  elements,  are  fantas- 
tically blended,  are  everywhere  covered  over  with  mosaic  pictures,  beginning 
between  the  pointed  arches  of  the  nave  arcades,  filling  the  whole  upper  wall, 
extending  to  transept,  choir,  and  central  dome,  bringing  once  more  before  us 
the  Byzantine  mode  of  decoration  in  all  its  splendour. 

The  Cappella  Palatina  in  the  royal  palace  at  Palermo  contains  the  most 
beautiful  of  these  decorations.^"^  The  building  was  begun  A.D.  1 1  3  2,  and  most  of 
the  mosaics  were  finished  by  A.D.  i  143.  The  pavement,  choir-presses,  and  lower 
panelling  of  the  walls  in  marble  and  porphyry  surpass  in  finish,  if  that  were 
possible,  even  the  works  of  the  South  Italian  mainland.  In  the  upper  part,  the 
pictures  on  the  first  wall  contain  a  full-length  figure  of  Christ  enthroned 
between  Peter  and  Paul  ;  the  centre  nave  has  figures  of  prophets  between  the 
arches,  and  scenes  from  the  Old  Testament  ;  on  the  side  aisles  are  the  stories  of 
Peter  and  Paul,  and  in  the  transept  the  Gospel  history.  Grandest  of  all  are  the 
exhibitive  and  devotional  compositions  closing  in  the  end.  In  the  main  apse 
the  Virgin  prays  with  uplifted  hands  enthroned  among  saints  :  and  in  the 
vaulting  there  is  a  gigantic  half-length  figure  of  the  Saviour  teaching,  and  two 
corresponding  half-lengths  of  Apostles  in  the  side  apses.  The  Annunciation  is 
depicted  above  the  arch  of  the  tribune,  then  come  niches  with  saints  in  the 
drum  of  the  dome,  and  above,  in  the  dome  itself,  stand  dignified  figures  of  angels 
with  large  wings,  and  the  centre  shield  again  contains  a  picture  of  Christ  (Fig. 
95;.  Some  pictures  from  the  legend  of  the  Virgin,  in  the  church  called  La 
Martorana  {Santa  Maria  deW  Ai)Uiiiraglio,  A.D.  i  143),  belong  to  the  same  period ; 


342 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


Fig.  95- 


MEDL-EVAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD.  343 

and  also  those  in  the  presbytery  of  the  cathedral  of  Cefalu,  completed,  accord- 
ing to  an  inscription  in  the  apse,  under  King  Roger  (a.D.  i  148).^'^  The  semi- 
dome  of  the  apse  is  here  again  filled  with  the  bust  of  Christ  ;  on  the  wall 
immediately  below  appears  Mary  between  angels,  and  two  lower  bands  contain 
the  Apostles  ;  while  the  walls  and  arches  of  the  presbytery  are  decorated  with 
busts  and  figures  of  Old  Testament  personages  and  saints. 

The  great  mass  of  ornament  produced  in  Sicily  during  the  reign  of  King 
Roger  is  a  lasting  witness  of  his  exemplary  government,  under  which,  thanks 
to  regular  administration  and  sound  finance,  the  island  enjoyed  the  highest 
prosperity.  Court  patronage  of  art,  on  the  other  hand,  was  interrupted  during 
the  licentious  reign  of  his  successor  William  I.,  who  was  sunk  in  Oriental 
luxury.  But  again,  under  his  grandson  William  II.  (a.d.  1166-1189),  the  last 
prince  of  -this  house,  there  arose  at  Palermo  the  cathedral  of  Monreale,  begun 
A.D.  I  172,  at  once  as  the  witness  of  the  private  munificence  of  the  king  and 
the  chief  ecclesiastical  monument  of  his  d\^nasty.  The  mosaics  in  this  church, 
though  perhaps  not  all  technically  so  well  executed  as  their  predecessors,  yet 
form  a  series  more  striking  still  by  reason  of  their  extent  and  richness.  Stories 
from  the  Old  Testament  fill  two  rows  along  the  upper  walls  of  the  nave  from 
the  entrance  ;  they  are  bordered  above  by  a  rich  ornamental  frieze  with  busts 
of  angels  ;  the  side  aisles,  and  the  transept  as  the  continuation  of  these,  contain 
the  whole  of  the  Gospel  story  ;  the  scenes  from  the  childhood  of  Christ  find  their 
place  just  at  the  arches  of  the  central  dome  above  figures  of  Patriarchs  and 
Prophets  ;  the  Annunciation  surmounts  the  arch  of  the  tribune,  as  in  the 
Cappella  Palatina  ;  and  again,  as  there,  the  vaulting  of  the  apse  is  occupied  by 
a  colossal  half-length  of  Christ,  while  on  the  wall  below  this  sits  the  Virgin 
enthroned,  but  this  time  with  the  Child,  and  between  two  rows  of  saints.  Two 
dedicatory  pictures  of  the  king,  first  as  crowned  by  Christ,  and  next  as  pre- 
senting the  model  of  the  church  to  the  Madonna,  are  placed  in  the  transept 
over  chairs  of  state. ^" 

The  Sicilian  mosaics  are  free  from  all  the  barbaric  features  of  Italo- 
Mediaeval  art.  The  old  Byzantine  tradition  prevails  in  them,  according  to 
which  everything  is  prescribed  and  unalterable, —  the  types,  the  choice  of 
motives  and  figures  and  the  mode  of  conceiving  them,  the  arrangement  of 
the  picture  in  its  given  space.  However  deeply  studied  this  arrangement 
may  be,  it  nevertheless  appears  invariably  siniple,  so  that  the  eye  of  the 
spectator  quickly  finds  itself  at  home,  and  is  not  distracted  by  subtlct}'  of 
relation  or  opposition  between  the  parts.  For  the  same  subject  the  same 
arrangement  reflects  itself  in  its  general  features  again  and  again  ;  there  is  no 
question  of  such  novelty  or  variety  of  motive  as  we  find  among  the  mosaics  in 
the  tribunes  of  Roman  churches  from  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  centur\-. 
The  principal  figures  are  dignified  and  solemn,  well  proportioned,  and  not 
too  attenuated.      Motives   of  great   beauty  and   nobility  often  appear,  as  in  the 


344  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

angels  in  the  dome  of  the  Cappella  Palatina.  Other  heads,  it  is  true,  are  lifeless 
and  ascetic,  that  of  Christ  particularly,  and  in  many  of  the  saints  too  the 
expression  of  dignity  is  often  carried  to  the  point  of  grimness.  Details,  such 
as  the  structure  of  the  hands,  often  show  want  of  knowledge.  The  cast 
of  drapery  is  correct  and  skilful,  but  often  artificial.  The  narrative  pictures, 
especially  those  frofn  the  Old  Testament,  allow  themselves  an  agreeable  liveli- 
ness in  the  actions.  Great  precision  is  shown  throughout  in  the  fitting  of 
the  glass  cubes,  a  point  in  which  these  Sicilian  mosaics  far  surpass  those  of  Rome 
at  the  same  period.  The  gold  ground  everywhere  prevails,  and  the  colours 
are  finely  brought  into  accord  with  it  ;  the  modelling  is  powerful,  with  delicate 
greenish-grey  shadows  in  the  flesh  ;  all  the  colour  effects  attainable  by  the 
art,  as  shading  with  a  second  colour,  and  laying  on  the  lights  of  the  draperies 
in  gold,  are  brought  into  requisition. 

But  from  this  time  forth  the  painting  of  Sicily  declined.  The  old  skill 
may  continue  to  assert  itself  in  other  directions  under  the  Emperor  Frederick 
II.,  but,  as  a  natural  consequence  of  his  intellectual  attitude,  great  under- 
takings in  ecclesiastical  architecture  came  to  a  standstill,  and  with  them  ceased 
the  opportunity  for  developing  farther  the  art  of  mosaic.  By  and  by  the  fall 
of  the  house  of  Hohenstaufen,  the  despotism  of  Charles  of  Anjou,  the  strife  of 
parties  and  the  ascendency  of  the  feudal  nobility,  made  an  end  of  the  prosperity, 
and  with  the  prosperity  of  the  art,  of  Sicily.  And  when,  in  the  following  epoch, 
an  independent  revival  of  Italian  art  began,  Sicily  had  no  part  nor  lot  in  it. 

IV.  Venice. — Venice  was  at  this  time  in  a  very  similar  position  to  Sicily. 
Detached  from  the  Italian  mainland  of  Italy,  her  importance  and  wealth  were 
founded  on  her  commerce  with  the  East,  and  we  have  already  spoken  of  her 
leaning  towards  Byzantine  art. 

Every  epoch  since  the  eleventh  century  has  contributed  to  the  mosaics  of 
S.  Mark's  ;  the  traditional  practice  of  the  art  lingered  on  in  Venice  down  to 
its  revival  in  our  own  time,  and  side  by  side  with  the  works  of  the  Middle 
Age,  the  Renascence  set  up  mosaic  pictures  from  the  designs  of  Titian,  Tintoret, 
and  their  contemporaries.  S.  Mark's  therefore  fails  to  show  a  uniform  scheme 
of  decoration  in  the  spirit  of  the  time  in  which  the  building  itself  was  erected.^^^ 
For  this  reason  if  for  no  other,  these  mosaics  would  stand  far  below  the 
connected  and  comparatively  well-preserved  Sicilian  examples,  which  for  the 
rest  they  do  not  approach  in  technical  excellence.  What  is  old  among  them 
is  a  kind  of  patchwork  ;  nevertheless,  the  very  multitude  of  these  pictures  on 
gold  grounds,  covering  the  walls,  domes,  and  vaultings  of  the  church  and  its 
dependencies,  convey  to  the  spectator,  in  their  overpowering  splendour,  the  im- 
pression proper  to  a  great  scheme  of  decoration  on  the  Byzantine  principle.  In 
the  vestibule  we  find  scenes  from  the  Old  Testament—the  Creation,  the  story 
of  Joseph,  in   animated   but   unskilful   compositions   from   the    eleventh  to  the 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— CENTRAL  PERIOD.  345 

twelfth  centuries  ;  in  the  chapel  of  S.  Zeno  are  the  legends  of  Peter  and  Mark, 
in  the  Baptistery  the  storj-  of  John  the  Baptist,  and  in  its  dome  the  Saviour 
enthroned,  surrounded  by  two  circles  of  angels.  In  the  eastern  dome  of  the 
church  itself  stands  a  medallion  of  the  beardless  Christ  (a  type  very  unusual 
elsewhere  in  Italy)  surrounded  by  the  Virgin,  Prophets,  and  other  personages 
of  the  Old  Covenant.  This  example  is  nearest  to  the  antique  tradition,  and 
probably  belongs  to  the  eleventh  century.  The  decoration  of  the  central  dome 
seems  rather  later  ;  it  contains  a  picture  of  Christ  ascending  to  heaven,  enclosed 
by  an  inner  circle  of  Mary,  the  Apostles,  and  angels,  and  an  outer  circle  of  personi- 
fied Virtues.  On  the  walls  we  find  biblical  and  legendary  scenes  as  well  as 
single  figures  of  saints,  some  of  which  go  back  to  the  thirteenth  century.  The 
figures  are  stiff  and  rather  weak,  and  the  narrative  pictures  are  lame,  though 
with  a  superficial  air  of  life  and  movement. 

The  same  school  was  represented  in  other  places  in  the  neighbourhood. 
The  apse  of  the  cathedral  in  Murano  contains  a  colossal  picture  of  the 
Madonna  seen  in  front,  with  hands  raised  in  supplication  :  this  has  also  a  Greek 
inscription.  A  mosaic  from  the  church  of  S.  Cyprian  at  Murano,  built  A.D.  i  109, 
was  bought  by  Frederick  William  IV.,  and  now  adorns  the  FriedenskircJie  at 
Potsdam.  In  the  apse  is  Christ  enthroned,  surrounded  by  Mary,  Peter,  John 
the  Baptist,  and  Cyprian  ;  a  medallion  with  the  Lamb  of  God  between  the 
archangels  Raphael  and  Michael  crowns  the  arch.^-^  The  cathedral  of  Torcello 
possesses  several  mosaics  in  the  interior  ;  the  apse  contains  the  Virgin  and 
Child,  with  the  Apostles  underneath  ;  at  the  side  of  the  arch  is  the  Annuncia- 
tion ;  on  the  entrance  wall  a  colossal  Last  Judgment,  designed  after  the 
Byzantine  manner,  which  is  shown  by  its  agreement  with  the  directions  given 
in  the  Mount  Athos  Manual.^-^  Thus  we  see  in  the  lower  part  of  the  picture, 
and  corresponding  to  the  gate  of  Hell,  the  door  of  Paradise,  at  which  stand  an 
angel  on  one  side,  and  Peter  as  doorkeeper  on  the  other,  the  forgiven  thief 
from  the  cross,  and  the  Virgin  as  intercessor  ;  also  Abraham  with  the  souls  of 
the  just. 

A  simikr  school  of  mosaic,  influenced  by  the  art  of  Venice,  practised  at 
Trieste.  The  side  apse  of  the  Cathedral  in  that  place  contains  a  twelfth- 
century  mosaic  of  the  Madonna  enthroned  with  the  archangels  Gabriel 
and  Michael,  and  the  Apostles  underneath.'-''  At  Parenzo,  a  port  of  Dalmatia 
which  was  conquered  by  Venice  temporarily  A.D.  1192,  and  permanently 
A.D.  1 267,  the  Cathedral  also  exhibits  a  mosaic  picture.  Here  the  semi- 
dome  of  the  tribune  again  contains  a  Madonna  with  two  angels,  but 
in  111  is  case  they  are  attended  by  several  saints  antl  donors.  These  are 
designated  by  inscriptions — Euphrasius,  said  to  have  been  the  first  bishop  of 
Parenzo  and  founder  of  the  church,  with  the  model  of  it  in  his  hands,  and  as 
an  archdeacon,  Claudius,  who  is  not  known  to  history,  with  his  young  son 
Euphrasius.      The  work  probably  belongs  to  the  thirteenth  century,  and  indeed 

2   \ 


346  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

to  the  time  of  Bishop  Otho  (A.D.  1 256-1 282),  as  it  entirely  corresponds  with  the 
smaller  mosaics  of  the  ciborium,  on  which  there  is  an  inscription  mentioning 
him  as  the  donor.^^^ 

To  sum  up  the  result  of  our  survey  of  Italian  painting  in  this  central  period 
of  the  Middle  Age, —  we  have  certainly  perceived  that  in  comparison  with 
other  nations,  Italy  falls  distinctly  behind  in  original  power  and  initiative.  But 
a  countr}'  which,  in  consequence  of  its  physical  position,  was  the  centre  of  all  the 
trade  and  commerce  of  the  Mediterranean,  did  not  fail  to  profit  by  its  position. 
Its  inhabitants  understood  how  to  acquire  and  adapt.  From  antiquity  they 
had  at  least  preserved  the  taste  for  dignified  luxury,  and  a  capacity  for 
culture  which  enabled  them,  by  turning  to  account  the  impulsions  received 
from  outside,  to  raise  themselves  from  their  state  of  barbarism,  to  re-ani- 
mate many  of  their  ancient  traditions,  and  especially  to  take  pride  in  the  con- 
tinued practice  of  one  of  the  most  brilliant  and  effective  of  decorative  crafts, 
the  craft  of  mosaic,  wherein,  at  a  time  of  otherwise  low  vitality,  the  Italians 
still  had  something  in  which  they  were  superior  to  all  the  other  nations  of  the 
West. 


APPENDIX. 
— ^^* — 

1.  [The  period  of  history  included  in  this  section  may  be  taken  as  beginning  with  the  establishment  of 
the  Saxon  dynasty  of  Emperors  (coronation  of  Otho  I.,  A.  D.  962),  and  as  ending  with  the  downfall  of  the 
Swabian  or  Hohenstaufen  dynasty  and  the  rise  of  republican  liberties  in  Italy  (death  of  Conrad  IV.  and 
Florentine  Year  of  Victories,  a.  D.  1254).  It  is  here  comprehensively  designated  as  the  Romanesque  age, 
because  of  the  splendid  development  of  the  Romanesque  style  of  architecture  which  took  place  both  in  the 
North  and  South  of  Europe  about  a.d.  iooo,  and  because  the  characters  associated  with  that  style  continued 
to  be  reflected  in  the  works  of  painting  until  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  although  in  building,  a  new 
style,  the  pointed  or  Gothic,  had  .been  adopted,  at  least  in  the  North,  soon  after  the  middle  of  the  twelfth.] 

2.  See  Springer,  A.  H.,  De  ai-tijicibiis  f/ionachis  et  laici's  medii  arjt,  Baur,  186 1  :  or  in  German  in 
Mittheihtngen  tier  k.k.  Centralcommission,  1862,  p.  i, 

3.  For  instance,  Richardus  Mundrichingensis,  who  signs  his  name  as  the  writer  of  the  MS.  Necrolo- 
giiim  Reinhardi  abbatis,  from  the  monasteiy  of  Zwifalten  (see  chap,  ii.,  ad  Jin.) ;  or  the  inscription  on  the 
pulpit  of  the  Cathedral  at  Bitonto,  completed  a.d.  1209,  Hoc  opus  fecit  Nicolaus  sacei'dos  et  viagister, 
(see  Schulz,  A.  W.,  Denkmdier  dcr  Kmtst  des  Mittelalters  in  Unteritalien,  vol.  i.  p.  76)  ;  or  again,  Bertol- 
diis  picior  frater  nosier,  and  Bertoidns  m.  n.  c.  magister  pictor^  from  the  Chronicle  and  the  Necrology 
respectively  of  the  monastery  of  Zwifalten,  \\\  Mon.  Gei-tn.  SS.  x.  p.  103. 

4.  This  Rugerius,  according  to  an  acute  recent  conjecture,  may  probably  be  identical  with  the  monk 
Rogkerus  of  the  Benedictine  monastery  of  Helmershausen  on  the  Diemel,  who  is  mentioned  in  original 
documents  as  the  artist  of  a  miniature  altar  of  precious  workmanship  executed  for  Heinrich  von  Weil, 
Bishop  of  Paderborn,  A.D.  1085-1127,  and  now  in  the  Cathedral  Treasuiy  of  that  place.  The  latest  text 
of  Theophilus  is  that  edited  by  Dr.  A.  Ilg,  with  introduction  and  translation,  as  vol.  vii.  of  the  Vienna 
Quellenschriften  fiir  Kunstgeschichte. 

5.  The  fragment  of  the  Anonymus  Bernensis  has  been  edited  by  Hermann  Hagen,  as  an  appendix  to 
Dr.  Ilg's  edition  of  Theophilus  supr.  cit.  The  treatise  of  Heraclius,  also  edited  by  Dr.  Ilg,  forms  vol.  iv. 
of  the  same  series  of  Qiiellenscliriften. 

6.  Authorities  to  be  consulted  in  connection  with  the  present  chapter,  in  addition  to  those  on  the 
history  of  miniature-painting  in  general  referred  to  in  Appendix  to  Part  ii.,  Book  I.,  note  44,  are  as 
follow: — Kugler,  Fr.,  Gesch.  dcr  Malerei  (for  English  ed.,  see  Appendix  to  Book  II.  section  i.  note  1); 
Id.  Kieine  Schriften  ;  Waagen,  ITandbuch  der  jiiedcriiind.  u.  deittsch.  Maicrschtiien  ;  Id.  Ktatsttve7-ke  ti, 
Kiiiistler  in  Deutschland ;  Id.  in  Deutschcs  Kunstblatt,  i.,  1 8 50;  and  for  illustrations,  Forster,  E., 
Detikmale  deutscher  Baukii7ist,  Bildnerei  tnid  Malerei,  12  vols.,  Leipzig,  1855-1869. 

7.  Stuttgart,  Ocffcntl.  Bibl.,  Bibl.  fol.  23  (reproductions  in  Hefner- Alteneck,  J.  von,  Trachien  des 
ciiristlichcn  Mittelalters,  I.,  PI.  50-53,  74,  75).  Munich,  Cimel.  20  (reproductions  in  Kugler,  Kieine 
Schriften,  i.  76,  and  Sighart,  Gesch.  der  bild.  Kiinste  in  Bayertt,  p.  50).  S.  Gallen,  Stiftsbibl.,  863. 
Paris,  Bibl.  Nat.,  Lat.  9448  (see  Labarte,  PI.  70). 

8.  Munich,  Cimel.  53.  Beneath  the  two  first  pictures  of  Evangelists  appears  the  inscription,  Dens 
propitius  esto  Uodalrico  peccatori,  and  the  same  inscription  occurs  in  an  analogous  book  in  the  British 
Museum  [Ilarleian,  2970). 

9.  We  find  at  the  Imiierial  Court  of  the  Saxon  dynasty  not  only  Italian  scholars,  but  also  Italian  artists, 
such  as  the  painter  Johannes,  whom  Otho  III.  had  summoned  to  decorate  the  Royal  Chapel  at  Aachen, 
and  who  went  on  afterwards  to  work  at  Liittich.  According  to  documentaiy  accounts  of  this  Johannes, 
the  Emperor  gave  him  a  bishopric  in  Italy,  which,  however,  he  afterwards  abandoned. 

10.  Casus  Scti.  Gain  in  Mon.  Germ.  SS.  ii.  p.  123. 

11.  As,  for  instance,  at  Toul  during  the  bishopric  of  S.  Gerard  (a.d.  967-994):  see  Mon.  Germ.  Hist., 
S'^.  iv.  u.  501. 


348  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

12.  Paris,  Bihl.  Xat.,  Lat.  8851.  The  portraits  are  severally  inscribed  Henricus  rex  Francorum. 
Otto  imperator  Aug.  Komanoi-iifn.      Otto  tninor  imperator  Augiistus, 

13.  Thietmar  iii.  cap.  I,  in  Mon.  Germ.  Hist.,  SS.  iii.  An  ivory  relief  at  the  Hotel  de  Cluny  (No.  387) 
represents  Otho  II.  bearded  ;  his  Greek  wife  Theophano  receiving  the  crown  of  life  from  Christ  in  the 
presence  of  a  donor,  Johannes. 

14.  Gotha,  Herzogl.  Bihl.,  19.  This  book  came  originally  from  the  monasteiy  of  Echtemach  in 
Lvixemburg — a  monastery  of  importance  in  the  history  of  art  from  its  early  Romanesque  church  and  its 
illuminated  MSS.  See  Rathgeber,  Beschreibung  des  herzogl.  Museums  zit  Gotha.  Specimens  of  the 
miniatures  in  Hefner- Alteneck,  Trachten,  etc.,  i.  PI.  57.     The  cover  is  figured  in  Quast  and  Otte,  Zeitschrift 

fiir  chi-istlkhe  Archliologie  u,  Kunst,  vol.  ii.,  where  Quast  rightly  observes  that  the  words   Otto  rex  and 
Theophano  itnperairix  must  signify  not  Otho  II.  with  his  wife,  but  the  young  Otho  III.  with  his  mother. 

15.  Munich,  Cimel.  58.  See  Giesebrecht,  Gesch.  der  deutschen  Kaiserzeit,  vol.  ii.  p.  609  (4th  ed.); 
and  for  reproductions,  Forster,  E.,  Deiikmale,  etc.,  vol.  ii. ;  Cahier,  N^oiiveaux  melanges  d'archeologie, 
where  mention  is  also  made  of  a  Gospel-book  of  the  same  Emperor,  Otho  HI.,  formerly  in  the  Cathedral 
Treasury  at  Aachen,  afterwards  in  private  possession  in  that  city  (specimens  in  Hefner- Alteneck,  PI.  47  sqq.) 

16.  Munich,  Cimel.  57,  Lat.  4452. 

17.  Munich,  Cimel.  60,  Lat.  4456.  Specimens  in  Forster,  Denkmale,  and  Cahier,  Nouveaux 
melanges,  p.  61. 

18.  Munich,  Cimel.  56  and  59.  19.   Ibid.  57. 

20.  Stuttgart,  Oeffentl.  Bibl.  Bibl.,  fol.  21.  21.    Munich,  Cimel.  179,  Lat.  157 13. 

22.  Munich,  Cimel.  54,  Lat.  1 3601.  Specimens  in  Cahier,  Notiveaux  melanges,  p.  15;  Forster, 
Denkmale,  vol.  ii. 

23.  Bremen,  Oeffentl.  Bibl,  renewed  from  the  abbey  church.  See  Miiller,  H.  A.,  in  Mittheilungen 
der  k.k.  Centralcommission,  1862,  p.  57  (woodcuts). 

24.  Berlin  Museum,  Print-room,  No.  6. 

25.  Commentary  of  Haymon,  Paris,  Bibl.  Nat.,  Lat.  12302  ;  reproductions  in  the  works  of  Bastard 
and  Louandre.      Noailles  Bible,  eleventh  century,  Paris,  Bibl.  Nat.,  Lat.  6. 

26.  Paris,  Bibl.  Nat.,  Lat.  8  :  reproductions  in  the  works  of  Bastard  and  Louandre. 

27.  Paris,  Bihl.  Nat.,  Lat.  58,  58  bis ;  ibid.  252  ;  reproductions  in  Bastard. 

28.  Paris,  Bibl.  A^at.,  Lat.  9436  ;  reproductions  in  Bastard. 

29.  Consult  Passavant,  J.  D.,  Die  christliche Kunst iii  Spanien,  Leipzig,  1853;  Waagen  \n  Jahrbiicher 
fiir  Kunsttuissenschaft,  vol.   ii.  p.    I  ;  Tailhan,  J.,   in   Cahier,  Nouveaux  melanges,  p.   330  j^^.;   and  for 

reproductions  in  colours  (but  without  mention  of  the  origin  of  particular  examples)  the  sumptuous  State 
publication  Mottiimentos  Arquitectonicos  de  Espaiia,  Madrid,  1859  and  subsequent  years. 

30.  Both  of  these  books  are  in  the  Brit.  Mus.,  Add.  MSS.  25600,  11695.  See  Palaeog.  Soc,  PI.  95, 
48. 

31.  Oxford,  Bodl.  579;  Brit.  Mus.,  purchased  1861  ;  Brit.  Mus.,  Cotton,  Tiberius,  vol.  4;  Paris. 
Bibl.  Nat.,  Lat.  943. 

32.  Brit.  Mus.,  Cotton,  Tiberius,  C.  vi.;  Oxford,  Bodl.,  Junius,  xi. 

33.  Lambeth,  Archiepisc.  Libr.,  200 ;  Brit.  Mus.,  Harleian  2904. 

34.  Brit.  Mus.,  Cotton,  Vespasian,  A.  viii. 

35.  At  Chatsworth,  published  by  John  Gage  in  Arch{Bologia,  vol.  xxiv. ;  specimens  in  colour-printing 
in  the  works  of  H.  Noel  Humphreys  and  Westwood. 

36.  Cambridge,  Trin.  Coll.,  B.  10.  4;  Rouen,  Bibl.  Munic.  (see  Gage  in  Archceologia,  vol.  xxiv., 
and  reproductions  in  Westwood). 

37.  Oxford,  Bodl.,  7 1 7.  London,  Society  of  Antiquarians  (specimens  in  Shaw,  The  Art  0/ Illuminating); 
Paris,  S.  Geneviive,  A.  25,  Bibl.  Nat.,  Lat.  11534,5. 

38.  Boulogne,  Bihl.  Munic.,  26;  see  Westwood,  PL  37-39,  and  Palaeog.  Soc,  PI.  97. 

39.  Paris,  Bibl.  N^at.,  Lat.  15675  ;  reproductions  in  Louandre;  Brussels,  Bibl.  de  Bourgogne,  2035. 

40.  E.g.  Westphalia,  a  Gospel-book  from  Hardehausen  in  the  Library  at  Cassel,  MSS.  Theol.  fol.  59, 
and  another  from  the  convent  of  nuns  at  Meschede,  in  the  Librarj'  at  Darmstadt,  MSS.  1640;  Cologne, 
a  splendid  copy  of  the  Epistles  of  Jerome,  painted  for  the  Archbishop  Frederic  (A.D.  1110-1131),  Cathe- 
dral Library,  29  ;  Palatinate,  a  Gospel-book  from  Limburg  on  the  Hardt,  also  in  the  Cathedral  Library 


APPENDIX.  349 

at  Cologne  (218);  German  Switzerland,  the  Psalter  of  Notker  'Lahto,  Stiftshibl.  21,  which,  besides  the 
rude  David  of  our  illustration,  contains  a  subject  of  the  Madonna  and  Child,  and  admirable  initials  in  black 
and  red;  Bavaria,  a  Gospel-book,  written  by  the  Abbot  Ellinger  of  Tegernsee  (a.d.  1017-1051),  and 
another  very  similar,  both  in  the  Library  at  Munich  (I.at.  1800,  828) ;  two  Gospel-books  in  the  same  library, 
from  the  monastery  of  Niederaltaich  at  Slraubing  (Cimel.  163,  142);  and  an  Antiphoner,  probably  of  the 
end  of  the  eleventh  century,  from  the  Benedictine  monasteiy  of  St.  Peter  at  Salzburg,  distinguished  by  the 
extraordinary  number  of  its  illustrations  (Salzburg,  Stiftsbibl.) 

41.  See  Engelhardt,  Ch.  M.,  Herrad  -'on  Laudsperg,  etc.,  i  vol.  8\o,  and  i  atlas  fol.  with  12  plates, 
Stuttgart  and  Ttibingen,  1818. 

42.  Bought  by  King  George  of  Hanover  from  the  Cathedral  Library  at  Prague  ;  see  Ambros,  Der  Done 
zu  Prag,  1858,  p.  293,  and  Culemann,  F.,  in  iVeiie  kannov.  Zeitii/tg,  1861,  Nos.  222,  224. 

43.  In  the  King's  private  library  at  Stuttgart,  No.  412.  Woodcuts  in  Kugler,  A7.  Schriften,  vol.  i. 
p.  69  sqq. 

44.  Paris,  Bibl.  Nat.,  Lat.  17961.     Labarte,  PI.  91. 

45.  Reproductions  in  Quast  and  Otte,  Zeitschrift  fiir  christl.  Kiinst  itnd  Archdologie,  vol.  ii.  PL  11. 

46.  See  Heider,  G.,  in  Air/iiv  fiir  Knnde  dstcrr.  Geschichtsquellen,  v.  p.  541.  A  French  MS. 
Bestiary  of  about  a.d.  1200,  in  the  Ashmolean  Museum  at  Oxford,  is  of  peculiar  value  and  beauty. 
Others  at  Brussels  and  Paris  are  described  by  Cahier  and  Martin,  Melanges  d'archeologie,  vol.  ii. 

47.  Stuttgart,  Oeffcntl.  Bibl.,  Brev.  4,  No.  125  ;  Bibl.  fol.  56-58;   Hist.  fol.  415. 

48.  Berlin  Museum,  Print-room,  MSS.  52. 

49.  Woodcuts  in  Kugler,  Kl.  Schriften,  i.  84,  and  Sighart,  Gesc/i.  d.  bild.  Kiinste  in  Bayern,  p.  274. 
Concerning  Conrad,  see  Mon.  Germ.  Hist.,  S.S.  xvii.  p.  613  sqq. 

50.  Munich,  Lat.  17400.  51.  Ibid.  Lat.  17405.  I7403- 
C2.                                           Supplicat  hie  si  quid  minus  apte  forte  rcscripsit, 

Pfuie  ignoseatttr  super  hoc  zxniatnque precatur, 
Namque  laboravit  solus  foliumque  patravit, 
Et  qua  dignus  erat  scribens  mercede  carebat. 

53.  See  W^eerth,  E.  aus'm,  Der  Mosai/cboden  in  S.  Gereon  zu  Koln,  etc.,  plates;  Bonn,  1873. 

54.  See  Revoil,  H.,  Architectuie  romaiue  dit  midi  de  la  France,  iii.,  p.  38,  PI.  78  sqq. 

55.  See  Didron,  Annales  archeolog.,  vol.  x.  p.  61  sqq. 

56.  See  Jubinal,  Ach.,  Les  anciennes  tapisseries  historiies,  etc.,  Paris,  1838  ;  Cahier  and  Martin, 
Melanges  d'archeologie ;  and  especially  the  coloured  reproductions  by  the  Arundel  Society. 

57.  Kugler,  Kl.  Schriften,  i.  pp.  583,  635. 

58.  There  is  in  the  Berlin  Museum  a  rich  collection  of  drawings  and  tracings  from  mediaeval  wall- 
paintings.  See  Schnaase's  Gesch.  der  bild.  Kiinste,  vol.  v.,  2d  ed.,  edited  by  A.  Woltmann,  and  the  un- 
finished work  of  Hotho,  Gesch.  der  christl.  Malerei;  Stuttgart,  1867. 

59.  For  coloured  reproductions  of  the  Oberzell  paintings,  see  Adler,  F.,  in  Erbkam's  Zeitschrift  fUr 
Bamvesen,  vol.  xix. ;  of  those  at  Salzburg,  Heider,  G.,  in  fahrbuch  der  k.k.  Centralcommission,  vol.  ii. 
p.  18,  sqq.,  figs.  I  and  2. 

60.  Weerth,  E.  aus'm,  Wandmalereien  des  Mittelalters  ifi  den  Rheinlanden,  with  excellent  reproductions. 

61.  For  a  detailed  account  see  Reichensperger,  A.,  yahrbiicher  des  Vereins  fiir  Alierthumsfreunde  im 
Kheinlande,  vol.  xi.  (1849),  and  Weerth,  E.  aus'm,  op.  cit. 

62.  Figured  in  Schnaase,  Gesch.  d.  bild.  Kiinste,  vol.  v.  p.  514  ;  and  in  colours,  Gailhabaud,  D architec- 
ture *  *   *  et  les  arts  qui  en  dependent,  vol.  ii.  PI.  63-66. 

63.  For  these  examples  see  Aldenkirchen,  J.,  Die  mittelalterliche  Kunst  in  Soest,  PI.  i,  lb;  Liibke, 
Die  mittclalta-liche  Kunst  in  VVcstfalett,  PI.  28,  30  ;  and  Fcirster,  Denkmale,  vii. 

64.  For  specimens  of  the  paintings  at  Halberstadt,  see  Quast  and  Otte,  Zeitschrift,  ii.,  PI.  12,  and 
Forster,  Denkmale,  I  ;  and  for  the  Goslar  examples,  Mitthof  in  Archiv  fiir  Niedersachsens  Kunstge- 
schichte,  vol.  iii. 

65.  Examples  in  Gailhabaud,  vol.  ii.  PI.  69,   70. 

66.  Sighart,  Gesch.  der  bild.  Kiinste  in  Bayern,  \->\t.  201,  262,  263. 

67.  See  plates  in  Mittheilungen  der  k.k.  Centralcommission,  1869,  p.  92,  for  the  Lambach  examples  ; 
and  1 87 1,  pp.   126-141,  for  those  at  Gurk. 


350  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

68.  See  Viollet-le-Duc,  Diet,  raisoiuie  de  V architecture  francaisc,  vii.  69 ;  and  for  the  paintings  at 
Poitiers,  the  Archives  de  la  Commission  des  monuments  historiques. 

69.  See  Merimee,  Notice  sur  les  peintures  de  Saint-Savin,  Paris,  1845  ;  and  De  Caumont,  Abecedaire, 
Architect,  relig.,  p.  281  sqq. 

70.  Janssen,  L.  J.  F.,  De  miatrschildetnjen  de  S.  "Janskerk  te  Gorinchem,  1858. 

71.  For  example,  those  at  Petershausen,  and  those  painted  in  the  cloister  at  Reichenau  under  the 
Abbot  Witigowo;  see  Mon.  Germ.  Hist.,  SS.  xx.  p.  638,  and  iv.  p.  621. 

72.  See  Rahn,  R.,  op.  cit.,  and  in  Mittheiltingcn  der  Auiiq.  Gesellschaft  zu  Ziirich,  xxxvi.  (1872),  with 
plates. 

73.  See  Kratz  in  Quast  und  Otte,  Zeitschrift,  ii.  p.  82,  and  the  coloured  reproductions  published  by 
the  same  writer  in  1856. 

74.  The  former  example  is  figured  in  Didron,  Ann.  ArcheoL,  xvii.  p.  180;  the  latter  in  Quast  and  Otte, 
Zeitschrift^  ii.  p.  283,  PI.  15,  16  and  again  in  Forster,  Denkfnale,  viii. 

75.  For  the  history  of  glass-painting  consult  Gessert,  M.  A.,  Geschichie  der  Glasmalerei  *  *  *  von 
ihrem  Urspmng  his  aiif  die  neneste  Zeit,  Tubingen  u.  Stuttgart,  1839,  8vo  ;  Wackernagel,  W.,  Die  deiitsche 
Glasmalerei,  Leipzig,  1855  ;  Unger,  F.  W.,art.  Glasmalerei,  in  Ersch  u.  Gruber,  i.  69,  p.  39;  Langlois,  E.  H., 
£ssai  historiqne  et  descriptif  sur  la  peinture  sur  verre  ancietme  et  moderne,  Rouen,  1832;  Didron,  E., 
Histoire  de  la  peinture  sur  verre  en  Europe,  in  Aim.  archcol.  23,  24  ;  Labarte,  iii.  S.  327  ;  Bucher,  Br., 
Glasmalerei,  in  Geschichte  der  technischen  JCiinste,  i.  Stuttgart,  1875  ;  Viollet-le-Duc,  in  Diet,  raisontie 
de  r architecture francaise,  ix.  p.  373.  For  large  coloured  illustrations,  see  especially  I^asteyrie,  F.  de,  Histoire 
de  la  peinture  sur  verre  d'apris  ses  monuments  en  France,  Paris,  1853-1857  ;  also  Lew,  Edm.,  Histoire  de 
la  peinture  sur  verre  en  Europe  et  particuliiretnent  en  Belgiqiie,  Brussels,  i860,  fol. 

76.  Pez,  Thesaurus  aneed.  vi.  p.   I,  p.  122. 

77.  Mo)i.  Ge7-m.  Hist.,  SS.  iii.  613.     For  other  testimonies,  see  Unger,  op.  cit.,  p.  50. 

78.  See  Herberger,  Th.,  Z>/£'rt7/'^j/^«  Glasgemiilde  im  Dom  zu  Augsburg.  By  this  author  the  windows  in 
question  are  dated  too  early  ;  by  some  other  writers,  as  Kugler  and  Schnaase,  too  late. 

79.  See  the  plate  in  Lasteyrie,  Notice  suppUmentaire,  p.  311. 

80.  On  the  windows  at  Le  Mans,  see,  besides  Lasteyrie,  op.  cit.,  Hucher,  Eug.,  Vitraux peints  de  la 
Cathidrale  dti  Mans,  Paris,   1865  ;  and  Parker,  letter  with  illustrations  in  Archaologia,  xxxiii.  p.  359. 

81.  See  his  own  account  in  De  rebus  in  administratione  sua  gestis,  cap.  xxii.,  in  Duchesne,  Hist.  Franc. 
SS.  iv.  388. 

82.  Lasteyrie,  PI.  3,  and  Labarte,  PI.  94. 

83.  Figured  both  in  Lasteyrie,  op.  cit.,  and  Gailhabaud,  ii.  PI.  77  sq. 

84.  Excellently  figured  in  Lassus,  J.  B.  A. ,  and  Duval,  A. ,  Monographic  de  la  CatMdrale  de  Chartres. 

85.  See  Guerber,  v.,  Essai  sur  les  vitraux  de  la  Cathedrale  de  Strasboing,  Strassburg,  1848.  This 
author,  from  whom  we  have  borrowed  our  illustration  of  one  of  the  kings  in  the  west  window  in  the  north 
aisle,  has  substituted  for  the  present  Gothic  window  one  of  earlier  Romanesque  form,  of  which  he  pro- 
fesses to  have  discovered  the  traces.  For  this  he  is  blamed  by  Lasteyrie  ;  but  the  restoration  at  any 
rate  corresponds  to  the  design  of  the  other  windows  mentioned  in  the  text,  those  with  figures  of  knights 
in  the  transept  (Lasteyrie,  PI.  17). 

86.  yahrbhiicher  der  k.k.  Centralcommission,  iii.  PI.  23-27, 

87.  Sen  Mittelalterliche  Baudenkmdler  Niede7-sachsens,  1866,  pts.  11,  J2;  and  Klopffleisch,  Dr.  Fr., 
Drei  Denkmdler  mittelalt.  Malerei,  u.  s.  w.,  i860. 

88.  The  Cologne  windows  are  indifferently  figured  in  Boisseree,  Denkmale  der  Baukunst  am 
N'iederrhein,  1842,  PI.  72.  For  the  Heimersheim  windows  see  Miiller,  F.  H.,  Beitrdge  zur  teutschen 
Kunst.  und  Geschichtskunde,  i.  PI.  9. 

89.  Art.  82  :  fenestrae  albaefiunt  et  sine  crucibus  et  picturis. 

90.  For  the  grisaille  windows  in  France  see  Texier  in  Didron's  Ann.  Archhl.,  x;  for  those  at 
Heiligenkreuz,  Camesina,  Glasgemalde,  u.s.w.,  des  Cisterzienser-Stiftes  Heiligenkreuz,  Vienna,  1854;  and 
specimens  in  Mittelalterliche  Kttnstdenkmale  des  osterreich.  Kaiser staates,  vol.  i.;  for  those  of  the  mon- 
astery at  Wettingen,  LUbke  in  Mittheilungen  der  antiq.  Gesellschaft  in  Ziirich,  vol.  xiv.  PI.  5. 

91.  Consult  Rumohr,  Jtal.  Forschungen,  vol.  i.;  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle,  Hist,  of  Fainting  in  Italy, 
vol.  i.;  Schulz,  H.  W.,  Denkmdler  der  Kunst  des  Mittelalters  in   Unteritalien,  herausgegeben  von  F.  von 


APPENDIX.  351 

Quast,  Dresden,  i860  ;  Salazaro,  D.,  Studj  mi  monumenti  deW  Italia  mcridionale,  etc.,  Naples,  vol.  ii. — 
still  in  course  of  publication. 

92.  Agincourt,  PI.  94  sq. 

93.  See  Roller,  Th.,  in  Rev.  archeol.,  1872  sq. 

94.  See  Weerth,  E.  aus'm,  Der  Alosaikbodeti  in  S.  Gereoti  zu  Coin  *  *  *  nebst  den  damit  verwandten 
Mosaikboden  Italiens,  Bonn,  1873  ;  and  Mlintz,  Eng.,  in  Rrjtie  archeol.  xxxii.  (1876),  p.  400. 

95.  Vlr Kxco,Q..,  Delle  arti  e  degli  artefici  di  Mantova^yizxiXxvx,  1857,  PI.  i. 

96.  Compare  Durand,  J.,  in  Didron,  Ann.  archhlog.,  xxiii.  sqq.,  plates. 

97.  See  Schulz,  op.  cit.,  261,  302,  PI.  45. 

98.  See  Agincourt,  PI,  53-55,  and  Forster,  Denktnale  ital.  Malerei,  vol.  i.  PI.  11  sq. 

99.  Rome,  Vat.  4922.    Sts  Man.  Germ.  Hist.,  SS.  xii.  p.  348  ji^i^.,  with  three  plates.     Agincourt,  PI.  66. 

100    Anastasius,  Liber pontif.,  in  Muratori,  Reruiii  Ital.  SS.,  iii.  p.  173. 

loi.  For  the  discussion  of  the  relations  between  Byzantine  and  Italian  art  in  this  age  see  Muratori, 
Antiq.  Ital.,  vol.  ii.  dissert.  24;  Ramohr,  Ital,  Forschungen,  vol.  i.  p.  282;  Schnaase,  Gescli.  der  bild, 
Kiinste,  iv.  p.  699,  and  vii.  p.  237. 

102.  For  these  Byzantine  bronze  doors  in  Southern  Italy  consult  Schulz,  op.  cit.,  particularly  vols.  i.  p. 
242  sq.,  ii.  p.  245  sq.;  also  Schulz's  fellow-worker  Strehlke,  in  Quast  and  Otte's  Zeitschrifl  fiir  christl. 
Arckdologie  u.  A'utist,  ii.  p.   1 00  sq. 

103.  Leonis  Marsicani  et  Petri  Diaconi  Chronica  monasterii  Casinensis,  edited  by  \V.  Wattenbach  in 
Mon.  Germ.  .SS.  vii.  p.  55 1. 

104.  The  true  reading  has  been  established  by  Rumohr,  Ital.  Forschungen,  i.  p.  287.  Intermiserat 
signifies  neglect  rather  than  total  disuse,  and  the  date  indicated  points  to  the  beginning  of  the  decline  of 
the  arts  in  Italy. 

105.  Schulz,  op.  cit.,  ii.  p.  170,  PI.  70^.7.      Salazaro,  op.  cit.,  i.  PI.  7  and  9. 

106.  Salazaro,  i.  PL  n.  107.    Salazaro,  PI.  22  ;  Schulz,  PI.  82,  figs,  i,  2. 
108.    Reproduced  in  Rossi,  Musaici  cristiani.  109.  Gutensohn  and  Knapp,  PI.  44. 

1 10.  So  Rossi,  from  Muratori,  Rerum  Ital.  Script.,  iii.  p.  451. 

111.  Gutensohn  and  Knapp,  PI.  45,  48. 

1 1 2.  The  name  of  the  last  of  these  seems  to  read  Diotesalvi  Petroni.      Concerning  this  Sienese  master,  • 
consult  Rumohr,  Ital.  Forschungeti,  ii.  p.  23. 

113.  Forster,  Denkmale,  i.  PI.  14. 

114.  Eg.  the  Crucifixion  in  the  Cappella  del  Martirologio  of  S.  Paolo  fuor  le  mnra ;  the  representa- 
tions from  the  legend  of  Constantine  in  the  Cappella  S.  .Sih'cstro,  erected  under  Innocent  III.,  A.D.  1130- 
"1143,  beside  the  church  of  Qnattro  Coronati  (Agincourt,  PI.  100) ;  the  pictures  of  the  time  of  Ilonorius 
III.  in  the  portico  and  on  the  inner  west  wall  of  S.  Lorenzo  fuor  le  mura  ;  the  paintings  in  the  Sacro 
Speco  at  Subiaco,  which  belong  partly  to  the  time  of  Innocent  III.  (a.d.  1198-1216),  and  partly  to 
Gregory  IX.  (1227-1241). 

115.  Rosini,  PI.  3. 

116.  Falcandi,  H.,  Hist,  de  rebus gestis  in  Sicilice  regno,  in  Muratori,  Rerum  Ital.  SS.,  vii.  p.  256. 

117.  See  Bock,  Die  Kleinodien  d.  h.  rom.  Reichs,  PI.  41-43.  In  the  Bavarian  National  Museum  at 
Munich  is  a  dalmatic  with  clasps  belonging  to  this  suit  of  vestments. 

118.  Bock,  op.  cit.,  PI.  17.  The  inscription  runs  :  Casula  haec  data  et  operata  est  ecclesiae  St.  Marine 
sitae  in  Civitate  Alba  anno  ab  incarnatione  Christi  MXXXI.  indictione  XIV.  a  Stephana  rege  et  Gisela 
regina.  The  word  operata  shoulil  not  be  taken,  as  it  has  hitherto  been  taken,  to  signify  that  Gisela 
worked  the  robe  with  her  own  hand. 

1 1 9.  See  Springer,  A. ,  Die  mittelalterliche  Kunst  in  Palermo,  Bonn,  1 869. 

120.  For  description,  with  beautiful  coloured  plates,  of  the  Cappella  Palatina,  see  the  work  in  course  of 
puljlication  by  Terzi,  A.,  Cavallari,  S.,  etc..  La  Cappdla  di  S.  Pietro  nclla  Rcggia  di  Palermo.  A  coloured 
view  in  Koeliler,  II.,  Polychrome  Meistenverke  der  ornamcntalen  Kunst  in  Italicn. 

121.  See,  for  both  these  examples,  Serradifalco,  Duca  di,  Del  Duomo  di  Monreale  e  di  altre  Chiese  Simla- 
Normane,  Palermo,  1 838. 


352  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

122.  See  Gravina,  D.  B.,  //  Duomo  di  Monreale  illustrato  e  ri/oriato,  etc.,  Palermo,  1859.  The 
witness  for  the  fact  that  the  church  and  its  mosaics  were  completed  before  the  death  of  the  king,  a.d. 
1189,  is  Ryccardus  de  Sancto  Germane,  Chronica,  in  Mon.  Gervi.  Hist.,  SS.  xix.  p.  323. 

123.  See  Kreutz,  G.  and  L.,  La  Basilica  di  S.  Afairo  in  Veiiezia,  etc.,  Venice,  1843  [republication 
announced.] 

124.  See  Jordan,  Max.,  suppl.  to  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle,  Hist,  of  Painting  in  Italy,  German  ed.,  i 
3S7>  with  extract  from  Sansovino,   Venezia  descritta. 

125.  .Specimens  in  Fbrster,  Denkmale,  i.  PI.  13. 

126.  Haas,  K.,  in  Mittheihingen  der  k.k.  Centralcommission,  iv.  (1859),  p.  173,  204,  with  plate, 
publishes  this  mosaic,  but  supposes  the  Apostles  to  be  of  older  date. 

127.  Eitelberger,  R.  von,  in  Mittelalterliche  Kiinstdenkmale  des  osterr.  Kaiserstaates,  i.  p.  205  sqg,t 
with  plates. 


BOOK   11. 

MEDIEVAL   PAINTING. 


SECTION   III. 
FINAL  OR  GOTHIC  PERIOD  (About  a.d.  1250-1400.)' 


?«Z 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

Transformation  of  art  in  thirteenth  century— The  last  an  age  of  German  ascendency  ;  the  present,  of  French 
— Unbroken  spiritual  unity  of  Christendom  ;  Church,  knighthood,  and  bourgeoisie — Art  passes  from 
the  hands  of  the  priests  into  those  of  the  trade  corporations — The  Confraternity  and  the  Guild — Scope 
allowed  to  individual  treatment  —  Limits  set  to  individual  self-assertion — New  spirit  of  civic  energy 
and  life  —  Of  scholastic  subtlety  and  ingenuity  —  Of  human  sympathy  and  affection  —  Expression  of 
sentiment  the  great  aim  of  Gothic  painting— Studies  of  Gothic  painters  ;  sketch-book  of  Villard  de 
Honnecourt — Predilection  of  Gothic  painting  for  flowing  forms,  swaying  movements,  and  sentimental 
tenderness — Its  reflection  of  chivalrous  and  feminine  ideals — Its  introduction  of  jest  and  mockery — 
Tendency  of  these  characters  towards  exaggeration  in  course  of  fourteenth  century — Signs  of  incipient 
and  incongruous  realism — Attempts  to  represent  the  third  dimension. 

In  the  thirteenth  century  mediaeval  art  underwent  a  great  transformation.  A 
new  style  of  building,  of  which  the  origins  can  be  traced  back  beyond  the 
middle  of  the  twelfth  century,  had  by  degrees  gained  the  ascendant,  first  in 
France  and  afterwards  in  other  countries.  The  Romanesque  had  been  super- 
seded, and  the  Gothic  reigned  in  its  place.  Upon  this  transformation  of  one 
art  there  followed,  not  indeed  immediately,  but  after  a  perceptible  interval, 
a  transformation  of  all  the  rest.  In  France  throughout  the  period  of  Early 
and  during  a  part  of  the  period  of  Mature  Gothic,  in  Germany  during  the 
period  of  what  is  called  Transitional  architecture,  the  characters  of  sculpture  and 
paintmg  still  continued  essentially  Romanesque,  and  it  is  only  after  the  best 
days  of  the  French  Gothic  are  over  that  a  decisive  change  of  feeling  manifests 
itself  in  these  arts. 

During  the  Romanesque  period  it  had  been  Germany  that  took  the  lead 
and  set  the  standard  in  architecture,  and  still  more  in  the  other  manual  arts* 
Gothic,  on  the  other  hand,  is  French  in  its  origin  as  in  its  development.  The 
great  days  of  the  Empire  and  of  Imperial  Germany  were  over.  The  politics  of 
Italy  had  absorbed  the  strength  of  the  last  rulers  of  the  house  of  Hohenstaufcn. 
They  had  been  constrained  to  make  concession  after  concession  to  their  feudal 
inferiors.  The  temporal  ambition  of  the  Popes  had  mined  the  ground  beneath 
their  throne.  Henceforth  only  the  semblance  of  their  sovereignty  could  be 
maintained,  and  that  only  for  a  time.  The  aureole  of  empire,  which  had 
shed  its  last  effulgence  about  the  heroic  person  of  the  second  Frederick, 
sinks  with  his  tragical  decline  to  rise  no  more,  although  the  people  would  not 
believe  that  he  was  gone,  and  awaited  still  the  second  coming  of  their  Imperial 
lord   and  judge.      In  proportion  as  the  process  of  disruption  advanced  in   Ger- 


356  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

many,  a  counter-process  of  integration  and  union  was  advancing  in  France. 
The  position  of  authority,  for  which  the  national  monarchy  had  long  striven,  it 
obtained  under  Philip  Augustus  (a.D.  i  i  8o-i  223).  That  king  found  means,  with 
the  support  of  the  bishops  and  the  communes,  to  keep  within  bounds  the  great 
feudal  vassals  of  the  state,  to  divert  into  safe  channels  the  energies  of  the  knight- 
hood, and  to  assert  the  independence  of  the  kingdom.  In  the  face  of  Papal 
aggression  even  the  devout  S.  Louis  maintained  unshaken  the  privileges  of  his 
crown.  The  capital  of  the  monarchy,  Paris,  already  began  to  grow  into  a 
capital  of  the  world,  a  centre  of  industry,  culture,  and  science.  The  influence 
which  now  went  abroad  from  France  over  the  rest  of  Europe  was  only  a  part 
of  those  wider  influences  which  she  began  to  wield  over  the  entire  West.  In 
France  the  institutions  of  chivalry  had  taken  shape,  and  since  the  Crusades — 
which  also  had  had  their  origin  in  France — those  institutions  had  become  common 
to  other  lands.  It  was  France  that  dictated  the  forms  of  courtly  society  among 
the  great,  their  fashions  of  costume,  deportment,  and  address,  and  the  codes 
and  principles  of  the  chivalric  Art  of  Love.  From  France  minstrels  took  both 
the  matter  and  the  mode  of  treatment  alike  of  the  love-lay  and  the  epic  tale. 
In  other  languages  it  was  a  sign  of  distinction  to  introduce  words  and  phrases 
from  the  French. 

The  spread  of  such  influences  was  made  the  easier  by  the  increasing  love 
of  travel  and  intercourse  between  nations.  The  sense  of  the  unity  of  Christen- 
dom was  still  at  this  time  stronger  among  men  than  their  consciousness  of 
separate  nationality.  The  constitution  of  the  Church  and  the  enthusiasm  of 
religious  faith  were  common  to  all  Western  humanity.  And  one  rank  of 
men  at  least  in  all  nations — the  knighthood — were  united  in  still  closer  bonds 
by  the  brotherly  institutions  of  their  order.  Lastly,  the  ranks  of  industry 
and  commerce,  the  trading  and  manufacturing  populations  of  the  towns,  were 
everywhere  simultaneously  shaping  themselves  into  a  new  power.  To  this 
power,  to  the  bourgeoisie,  belonged  henceforward  the  exercise  of  the  manual 
arts.  Nevertheless  sculpture,  architecture,  and  painting  did  not  give  expression 
to  the  spirit  of  any  single  class  as  poetry  had  given  expression  essentially  to 
the  spirit  of  the  knighthood  ;  these  arts  rather  gathered  into  themselves  at  thb 
period  the  spirit  of  all  classes  and  of  the  entire  nation. 

In  painting,  although  no  new  technical  acquirement  was  added  to  those  which 
the  art  possessed  in  the  Romanesque  period,  we  find  nevertheless  a  change  of 
conception,  of  feeling,  and  of  employment.  The  art,  for  one  thing,  emancipates 
itself  from  the  direction  of  the  priestly  order,  and  this  though  the  enthusiasm 
of  religion  be  still  never  so  universal,  though  the  power  of  the  Papacy  be  still 
never  so  great,  and  though  the  mendicant  orders,  with  their  vast  popular  influ- 
ence, constitute  new  and  potent  instruments  in  the  hands  of  that  power.  In 
accordance  with  the  encyclopaedic  spirit  characteristic  of  all  culture  and  dis- 
cipline in  the  Middle  Age,  the  artists  of  that  age,  and   especially  those  who 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  357 

were  members  of  the  religious  orders,  had  been  habitually  at  home  in  several 
different  arts,  and  sometimes  in  all  at  once.  This  now  ceased  to  be  the  case, 
especially  in  the  countries  north  of  the  Alps.  The  masters  of  the  new  age, 
belonging  to  the  middle  classes  of  the  towns,  were  specialists,  each  limited  to 
his  own  craft.  The  painters  worked  at  wall-painting,  and  afterwards,  when 
easel  pictures  came  more  into  fashion,  at  panel-painting.  Beside  them  there 
were  the  "  shielders,"  properly  shield-makers,  but  also  saddlers  and  makers  of 
everything  belonging  to  horse-furniture  ;  their  functions  included  the  painting 
as  well  as  the  making  of  shields  or  scutcheons  ;  and  thus  they  had  in  their  hands 
a  certain  branch  of  easel-painting,  one  which  did  not  trench  upon  the  ecclesi- 
astical sphere,  and  remained  in  the  condition  of  a  handicraft  rather  than  a  fine 
art.  Again,  there  were  the  painters  on  glass,  who  were  grouped  with  the  glass- 
blowers  ;  there  were  the  mmiature-painters  and  illuminators.  As  the  system  of 
trade  associations  developed  itself,  various  more  or  less  nearly  related  crafts  would 
group  themselves  in  one,  in  order  not  to  stand  in  a  worse  position  than  stronger 
corporations.  Thus  it  often  happened  that  the  painters  were  joined  by  the 
carvers,  joiners,  parchment-makers,  gold-beaters,  goldsmiths,  and  so  on,  or  by 
some  if  not  all  of  these.      Occasionally,  as  at  Basel,  the  barbers  too  came  in. 

In  the  early  stage  of  these  trade  associations,  the  stage  at  which  they  were 
known  merely  as  Brotherhoods  or  Confraternities,  each  had  its  altar  in  some  par- 
ticular church,  and  its  members  celebrated  festivals  and  funerals  in  common.  But 
the  Brotherhood  contained  within  itself  the  germ  from  which  the  regular  Guild 
took  its  development  The  guilds  became  corporations  with  definite  political 
rights  and  obligations,  including  the  obligation  of  military  service  for  purposes 
of  defence,  and  above  all  with  judicial  authority  in  trade  matters.^  The  several 
trades  were  confederated,  but  managed  their  affairs  without  mutual  interference. 
Each  master  practised  his  special  craft  with  the  help  of  the  associates  whom  he 
had  trained,  and  brought  up  his  apprentices  in  the  same  craft.  That  any  one 
should  exercise  another  trade  than  his  own  was  contrary  to  rule  and  custom. 
The  technical  tradition  of  each  craft  was  firmly  established,  and  came  to  the 
help  of  weaker  hands,  while  to  those  more  gifted  it  afforded  a  sure  foundation 
for  their  skill.  As  each  town  had  its  own  trade  corporations,  special  schools 
formed  themselves  by  degrees  ;  but  the  results  of  their  exclusiveness  in  relation 
to  each  other  were  modified  by  the  custom  of  travelling  from  place  to  place 
during  apprenticeship.  The  leading  masters,  too,  did  not  always  remain  tied 
to  one  spot,  but  often  became  attached  to  the  persons  of  princes,  and  received 
at  their  courts  appointments  which  occasionally  released  them  from  the  restraints 
of  the  guild.  Essentially,  however,  art  in  this  age  had  its  roots  in  the  life  of 
the  cities,  the  course  of  whose  material  and  political  development  was  favour- 
able to  its  growth. 

Up  to  this  time  not  only  the  art  of  Byzantium,  but  to  a  certain  extent  that 
of  the   West   also,  had    been   dominated   by  a   hierarchical,   a  sacerdotal   style. 


358  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

But  now  popular  sentiment  began  to  acknowledge  that  the  artist's  own  mode 
of  conceiving  a  subject  had  a  certain  claim  side  by  side  with  tradition  and 
sacerdotal  prescription.  Durandus,  bishop  of  Mende,  in  the  south  of  France, 
whose  Rationale  divmorum  officionun  shows  what  the  idea  of  ecclesiastical  art 
was  in  the  thirteenth  century,  expresses  himself  in  these  significant  words  :^ 
"  Various  subjects  from  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  are  painted  according  to 
the  discretion  of  the  painter,  for  (here  he  quotes  Horace) 

....  Pictoribiis  atque  poetis 

Quidlibet  audendi  semper  fuit  aqua  potestas.^ 

Religious  subjects  continued  to  form  the  great  bulk  of  the  material  of  art  ; 
and  painters  as  well  as  sculptors  looked  upon  the  decoration  of  churches  as  their 
principal  task.  They  still  created  cycles  of  great  and  comprehensive  symbolic 
pictures  under  the  influence  of  theological  ideas.  But  within  these  limits,  the 
artist  himself  could  now  work  with  much  more  independence. 

Individuality  of  conception  in  our  modern  sense  is  not,  indeed,  to  be  found. 
The  work  in  no  case  stands  as  the  personal  expression  of  a  definite  artistic 
temperament.  The  personality  of  the  producer  is  still  cast  into  the  shade  by 
the  thing  produced.  Fewer  names  of  artists  are  known  to  us  in  this  even  than 
in  the  Romanesque  period,  in  which  not  only  chronicles,  but  inscriptions,  much 
oftener  hand  down  the  names  of  those  who  were  industrious  in  the  art,  and 
especially  of  those  the  scene  of  whose  industry  was  in  a  monastery.  But  in 
the  new  age  art  had  become  the  occupation  of  ordinary  citizens,  an  industry 
like  any  other.  Each  painter  took  his  position  modestly  as  a  member  of  his 
guild,  and  did  not  concern  himself  with  trying  to  outshine  his  fellows. 

But  if  the  genius  of  the  individual  artist  was  thus  kept  from  asserting 
itself,  not  so  that  of  the  order  to  which  he  belonged.  These  artisans  of  the 
towns  were  full  of  a  fresh  and  energetic  spirit.  They  held  by  tradition  more 
from  practice  and  trade  custom  than  from  theory  or  set  purpose.  They  stood 
in  the  midst  of  life,  and  took  their  impressions  from  direct  intercourse  with 
nature.  Poetry  had  filled  their  imaginations  with  new  ideas  and  emotions,  and 
the  delight  of  the  age  in  pageants  and  festivals,  which  turned  into  a  dramatic 
show  ail  the  events  of  ecclesiastical  or  political  life,  kept  those  imaginations 
continually  nourished.  A  delight  in  living,  a  vein  of  luxury  and  even  of 
hearty  animalism,  manifests  itself  in  all  classes,  the  clergy  not  excepted  ;  and 
though  once  and  again  put  down  by  ecclesiastical  asceticism,  which  now 
assumes  peculiarly  fanatical  forms,  this  vein  always  re-appears, — there  is  always 
a  reaction  and  a  revival. 

Hitherto  art  had  been  master  of  but  one  form  of  expression,  that  of 
devotional  solemnity,  of  ecclesiastical  austerity,  of  reverential  sublimity.  This 
was  now  abandoned,  and  with  this  disappears  much  of  the  earlier  majesty  of 
Christian    art.       Wherever   the   theological   spirit   prevails,    we   now   trace   the 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  359 

influence  of  the  new  scholastic  modes  of  thought,  which  aim  at  subtle  com- 
binations and  significant  juxtapositions  of  incident  such  as  we  shall  presently 
find  in  the  picture-Bibles  of  this  age — at  mysticism,  in  a  word,  of  conception — 
and  thereb}'  forfeit  the  simplicity  and  repose  of  earlier  art. 

Strength  of  religious  sentiment,  we  know,  is  characteristic  of  the  entire 
Middle  Age,  and  religious  sentiment,  in  the  days  of  which  we  have  now  to 
treat,  is  in  no  degree  enfeebled.  Nay,  it  receives  from  the  spirit  of  the  time  a 
character  more  enthusiastic  than  ever.  But  man  no  longer  prostrates  himself 
automatically  in  blind  surrender  to  his  creed,  he  accepts  and  holds  it  with  deliber- 
ate consciousness.  He  draws  the  objects  of  his  worship  more  nearly  within  the 
grasp  of  his  understanding;  he  invests  them  with  a  gentler  dignity,  and  informs 
them  with  the  breath  of  purely  human  affections,  of  piety,  devotion,  loving- 
kindness.  The  note  of  humility,  of  nothingness  in  presence  of  the  divine,  is 
still  predominant  ;  but  humility  has  thrown  off  the  mask  of  stony  abasement, 
and  scope  is  gained  for  the  expression  of  a  certain  definite  scale  of  emotions — 
emotions  which  touch  by  their  timidity,  and  of  which  the  simpleness  is  half 
the  charm. 

Now,  if  for  the  purpose  of  depicting  human  beings,  either  separately  or  in 
determined  groups  and  scenes,  the  artist  wishes  to  develop  a  language  for  the 
expression  of  emotion,  there  is  only  one  means  open  to  him — a  closer  grasp 
and  observation  of  nature.  In  the  age  which  we  are  now  approaching,  the 
painter's  knowledge  of  nature  remains  but  scanty.  He  does  not  succeed  in 
fathoming  and  mastering  her  aspects  ;  but  his  eyes  are  opened  to  them  so  far 
as  is  demanded  by  the  expressional  phenomena  which  it  is  his  great  motive  to 
represent ;  since  it  is  not  yet  for  their  own  sakes,  but  only  for  the  sake  of  giving 
expression  to  a  particular  range  of  sentiments,  that  he  seeks  to  imitate  the 
realities  of  the  world. 

The  manner  of  study  adopted  by  the  artists  of  the  thirteenth  ccntur\- 
is  exemplified  in  a  precious  sketch-book  of  the  French  stone-mason  Villard 
de  Honnccourt,  in  the  National  Library  at  Paris.'^  Of  strict  drawing  from 
the  figure,  or  close  study  of  the  nude,  there  is  no  question  ;  if  the  artist 
in  any  instance  works  from  a  model,  he  succeeds  but  very  imperfectly  in 
reproducing  it.  Between  him  and  the  object  before  him,  tradition  is  still 
a  welcome  interpreter.  Among  travelling  sketches  arc  some  taken  from 
works  of  art  ;  but  direct  references  to  nature  are  also  to  be  found  ;  thus  to  a 
sketch  of  a  lion,  which  to  our  eye  looks  extremely  heraldic,  the  artist  has 
appended  the  remark,  "  N.B. — Drawn  from  life."  And  elsewhere  we  find  other 
animals  studied  also  from  life,  and  groups  or  single  figures  caught  also  from 
nature.  But  the  forms  are  never  thoroughly  grasped,  the  individual  features 
are  never  thoroughly  realised.  As  a  kind  of  substitute  for  true  knowledge  of 
form  we  find  an  observance  of  formal  proportion  and  rhythm,  of  which  the 
purpose   is  to  make   the  pictured  lineaments  agreeable  to  the  eye.      Mediaeval 


36o  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

art  had  by  this  time  quite  worked  itself  free  from  the  Byzantine  code  of  human 
proportions,  which  it  had  indeed  at  no  time  repeated  in  any  except  a  vague 
and  variable  way.  We  gather  from  Villard's  sketch-book  how  by  accommo- 
dating the  human  body  to  definite  geometrical  figures,  such  as  triangles  or 
segments  of  circles,  a  formula  had  been  provided,  which  even  the  least  skilful 
could  apply  with  some  measure  of  success,  for  regulating  the  scale  of  the 
several  parts,  the  measurements  of  the  limbs  in  movement,  the  modes  of  con- 
structing groups,  and  so  on. 

Even  in  his  representations  of  the  nude,  inadequate  though  they  may  be,  a 
painter  of  this  period  knows  how  to  avoid  the  repulsive  rudeness  of  his  predecessors. 
And  by  far  the  greater  number  of  his  figures  being  not  nude  but  draped,  he  is  able 
to  get  on  well  enough  with  the  scanty  knowledge  he  possesses  of  the  osseous  struc- 
ture of  the  body.  The  form  gains  from  its  drapery  ;  the  old  dry  conventional 
reproduction  of  the  antique  cast  of  folds  has  given  place  to  an  agreeable  flow 
of  lines  and  sweeping  disposition  of  masses.  Still  more  than  the  facts  of  form, 
the  facts  of  movement  are  observed  from  nature.  The  head  inclines  lightly 
this  way  or  that,  the  limbs  disengage  themselves,  the  trunk  sways  upon  the 
hips,  giving  a  gentle  undulation  to  the  carriage.  The  one  character  universally 
prevalent  is  this  softness  of  flow  ;  as  in  truth  the  expressions  which  the  artist 
of  that  age  strove  to  render  were  not  those  of  energy,  of  active  and  deliberate 
will,  but  those  of  brooding  mildness,  of  pensive  and  tender  modesty. 

Herein  it  is  that  the  art  of  the  Gothic  period  bears  most  forcibly  the 
impress  of  the  chivalrous  temper —  a  temper  not  confined  to  the  chivalrous 
classes  only — and  especially  of  that  predominance  of  the  feminine  element 
which  characterised  an  age  when  the  pride  of  Arms  was  indissoluble  from  the 
sworn  service  of  Love,  and  when  Mariolatry  imparted  even  to  religion  the 
character  of  an  impassioned  devotion  to  Woman.  Nay,  the  habits  of  chivalry 
came  to  reflect  themselves  more  and  more  closely,  not  only  in  the  general 
temper  of  art,  but  also  in  its  particular  embodiments.  Hence  sacred  subjects 
gradually  lose  their  traditional  aspect,  and  secular  occasionally  creep  in. 
The  whole  realm  presided  over  by  the  Lady  Aventiw-e,  the  whole  world  of 
chivalrous  song  and  tale,  is  reproduced  in  pictures.  Even  here,  however, 
expression  goes  little  if  at  all  beyond  the  bounds  we  already  know  ;  and  hard 
as  the  painter  may  try  to  please  by  the  imitation  of  life,  still  he  cannot  succeed 
with  scenes  of  dramatic  exertion,  with  situations  where  the  actors  exhibit 
promptitude  and  strength  of  will,  as  well  as  he  succeeds  with  the  passive  life  of 
mere  moods  and  sentiments. 

Along  with  the  feeling  for  sweetness  and  charm  comes  up  the  feeling  for 
fun  and  mockery.  Art  turns  for  subjects  not  only  to  the  tales  of  chivalry,  but 
to  the  fables  of  the  brutes,  and  by  and  by  fastens  on  many  an  aspect  of 
every-day  life  as  well.  Such  humours  are  depicted  usually  in  unobtrusive 
corners,  but  always  with  vigour  and   point,  and   even   in   the   more   fantastic 


MEDLEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  361 

order  of  inventions,  the  old  spirit  of  demoniac  grimness  is  now  supplanted  by 
a  spirit  of  jest  and  roguery. 

The  best  days  of  Gothic  architecture  ended  with  the  thirteenth  century.  So 
far  as  painting  is  employed  in  the  immediate  service  of  architecture,  the  same 
may  be  said  of  Gothic  painting  too.  But  in  other  respects  the  changes  in  paint- 
ing which  set  in  with  the  fourteenth  century  are  changes  betokening  not  a  deca- 
dence of  the  art,  but  the  first  stages  of  a  new  development.  It  is  true  that  in 
the  later  Gothic  the  tendency  to  mechanical  production  increases, — a  tendency 
encouraged  by  the  new  architectural  conditions  under  which  sculpture  and 
painting  were  demanded  for  decorative  purposes  in  a  profusion  which  nothing 
but  rapid  production  could  supply,  while  at  the  same  time  the  spaces  at  the 
disposal  of  the  painter  were  individually  so  cramped  that  he  could  not  always 
secure  an  independent  artistic  value  for  his  work.  It  is  true  also  that  the 
predilection  for  slender  and  pliant  forms  was  pushed  in  this  age  to  excess,  and 
here  again  something  is  due  to  the  influence  of  architecture,  which  yielded 
more  and  more  exclusively  to  the  desire  for  altitude,  wasting  itself  in  construc- 
tive ingenuities,  and  carrying  the  pursuit  of  lightness  and  elegance  to  the 
point  of  a  veritable  volatilisation  of  masses.  So,  in  painting,  the  gentle  inclina- 
tion of  the  body  passes  by  and  by  into  unnatural  contortion,  the  expression  of 
tender  sentiment  into  that  of  puling  sentimentality.  The  degeneracy  of  courtesy 
itself,  the  exaggerations  and  affectations  of  actual  life,  find  their  reflection,  as  in 
poetry,  so  also  in  the  manual  arts. 

Lastly,  the  germs  of  realism  already  existing  in  art  by  degrees  unfold  them- 
selves further.  Artists  venture  upon  a  closer  grip  of  nature  and  fact ;  and  we 
discern  the  first  attempts  at  a  truly  individual  treatment,  especially  in  the 
features  of  the  face.  The  consequence,  wherever  sculpture  and  painting  are 
the  mere  servants  of  architecture,  is  generally  so  much  deterioration  the  more ; 
these  realistic  experiments  do  not  harmonise  with  ideals  of  immaterial  and 
attenuated  grace.  Besides,  the  realism  is  too  casual  and  inconsequent,  and 
rests  on  too  little  positive  knowledge  of  nature,  to  be  able  to  establish  itself 
as  an  independent  principle  ;  though  it  none  the  less  helps  to  prepare  the 
complete  revolution  destined  before  long  to  ensue.  The  loosening  of  the  bond 
between  painting  and  architecture  is  a  circumstance  having  also  its  advantages, 
since  it  leaves  the  former  free  to  feel  its  way  towards  the  recognition  of  its  own 
proper  laws. 

Finally,  after  about  A.D.  1350,  there  appear  the  first  real  signs  of  a 
recovery  of  that  which  had  been  so  long  completely  lost,  a  conception  of  the 
true  functions  and  capacities  of  painting — the  first  serious  attempts  to  produce 
by  means  of  that  art  the  appearance  of  more  than  of  a  single  plane,  to  imitate 
effectually  the  solidity  of  objects,  and  to  exhibit  them  in  true  relations  to  their 
surroundings. 

3  A 


CHAPTER    II. 

MINIATURES. 

Fren'CH  School  until  1350;  illumination  as  practised  at  this  time  in  Paris — Technical  characteristics 
— Style  of  figures,  faces,  and  borders — Examples  of  transition  to  new  style — Of  new  style  fully  worked 
out ;  Psalter  of  S.  Louis — Farther  developments  in  fourteenth  century — Bibles  historiees — Life  of 
S.  Denis  illuminated  for  Philip  the  Long — Introduction  of  drSleries  into  the  borders  of  religious  MSS. 
— Illuminated  MSS.  of  secular  and  legendary  subjects — Influence  of  French  illumination  upon  English 
— Germany  until  a. d.  1350;  German  miniature-painting  at  this  time  influenced  by  but  inferior 
to  French — Early  examples  —  Later  examples;  illustrated  collections  of  Minnelieder ;  increasing 
French  influence  —  MSS.  of  the  Biblia  Paiiperinti  and  other  Bible  illuminations — MS.  Passionate 
written  for  the  abbess  Kunigunde  of  Prague — French  School  after  1350;  first  attempts  at  com- 
plete pictorial  treatment — Encouragement  of  the  art  by  Court  and  Royal  princes — Names  of  artists  ; 
frequently  Flemish — Early  examples  of  this  Franco-Flemish  work  executed  for  French  princes — More 
advanced  examples — Livre  des  7)ierveilles  dii  inonde — MSS.  from  the  library  of  the  Due  de  Berri ;  Bible, 
Hour-Book,  and  Psalter  Characteristics  of  these  works  ;  their  choice  of  subjects — Office  of  the  Virgin 
in  Bibliothique  Mazarine-  Prayer-book  in  collection  of  Duke  d'Aumale  —  Translations  from  the 
Italian;  classical  subjects — Sketch-book  of  Jacques  Daliwes —English  work  at  this  time;  its  sub- 
servience to  the  French — Germany  after  a.d.  1350;  new  school  at  Prague  under  patronage  of 
Charles  X.  and  his  Court — Character  of  this  School — Examples  at  Prague — Patronage  continued 
by  Emperor  Wenzel  ;  examples  at  Vienna — Their  character — Their  reference  to  the  person  and  habits 
of  the  Emperor — Missal  of  Sbinco  Hasen  von  Hasenburg — MSS.  executed  for  the  Austrian  Court — 
Inferiority  of  average  productions  in  this  age. 

I.  French  School  until  a.d.  1350. — The  French  were  the  first  to  open 
up  new  paths  in  painting  as  well  as  in  architecture.  Towards  the  middle 
of  the  thirteenth  century  a  new  and  peculiar  style  of  manuscript-painting 
developed  itself  in  France — at  first  especially  in  Paris,  which  was  the  centre  of 
learning,  the  seat  of  the  University,  and  of  many  flourishing  industries.  The 
taste  for  handsome  books  was  further  encouraged  by  the  luxury  of  the  knightly 
order.  Louis  IX.  (a.d.  i 226-1 270)  led  the  way  by  founding  a  great  library 
of  books,  of  which  most  were  newly  transcribed  for  the  purpose.  The  art 
of  ornamental  writing,  as  well  as  miniature-painting,  had  at  this  time  passed 
almost  entirely  into  the  hands  of  laymen.  A  solid  trade  tradition  established 
itself,  and  was  strengthened  by  the  increasing  force  of  routine.  The  returns  of 
the  year  1292  in  Paris  mention  thirteen  illuminators  paying  taxes.  The 
scribes  themselves  appear  as  the  sellers  of  their  own  wares,  the  book  trade  not 
having  yet  been  regularly  developed.  They  took  care,  in  doing  their  part 
of  the  work,  to  leave  empty  spaces  for  the  illuminators  to  fill  up  with  initial 
letters  and  pictures  ;  and  as  the  painter  could  not  always  be  trusted  to  under- 
stand the  text,  written  directions  were  given  in  the  margin  as  to  what  subject 


MEDL'EVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  363 

v.as  to  be  represented.  These  marginal  notes  were  generally  rubbed  out,  but 
they  are  occasionally  preserved,  as  in  the  Emperor  Wenzel's  Bible  in  the  Royal 
Library  at  Vienna,  in  a  copy  of  Wolfram  von  Eschenbach's  poem  of  IVil/ehahn, 
executed  for  the  same  prince  ^  (Vienna,  Ambraser  collection),  and  in  another 
Willehalui  in  the  librar}-  at  Cassel.  In  many  cases  this  process  of  decorating 
a  book  dragged  on  for  a  long  time,  causing  heavy  expenses,  and  remaining 
unfinished  at  last.  The  names  of  the  illuminators  of  this  period  are  less  known 
than  those  of  earlier  times.  While  in  old  days  a  monk  skilled  in  painting  used 
sometimes  to  sign  his  work,  or  to  be  named  in  the  archives  of  his  monastery,  the 
new  citizen-painters  keep  modestly  in  the  background.  The  very  few  names 
of  such  painters  that  we  know  have  come  to  us  chiefly  through  old  library 
catalogues. 

The  peculiarity  of  the  new  style  which  arose  under  Louis  IX.  consists,  in 
the  first  place,  in  sharpness  and  dexterity  of  pen-drawing,  which  enables  the 
artist  to  get  certainty,  tenderness,  and  distinctness,  even  in  drawings  on  a  small 
scale.  The  outlines  were  then  filled  in  in  bod}--colour,  but  without  any  model- 
ling, each  tint  being  laid  on  flat,  without  shading  or  gradation,  and  the  details 
and  indications  of  shadow  only  drawn  in  afterwards  with  the  point  of  the  pen. 
The  outlines  always  remained  visible.  The  natural  vellum  was  generally  left 
for  the  flesh  parts,  especially  the  faces,  only  that  ungradated  red  patches  are 
added  on  the  cheeks,  and  slight  touches  of  colour  on  the  lips,  hair,  and  eyes. 
Unbroken  tints  of  colour  predominate,  such  as  bright  scarlet  and  blue.  The 
effect  is  cheerful  and  brilliant,  but  sometimes  rather  shrill.  This  manner  of 
treatment  seems  to  have  arisen  under  the  influence  of  glass-painting,  to  which 
the  eyes  of  men  were  so  much  accustomed  in  this  age.  Miniature- 
painters,  wishing  to  rival  the  joyous  and  luminous  effect  of  painted  win- 
dows, unwisely  adopted  some  of  those  peculiarities  which  in  glass-painting 
were  the  consequence  of  inevitable  conditions — of  the  necessity  under  which 
the  artist  laboured  to  make  a  kind  of  mosaic  with  his  pieces  of  coloured  glass, 
to  fasten  them  together  with  heavy  lead-lines,  to  shade  them  with  plain  black- 
lead  pigment,  and  to  make  the  result  a  surface-pattern  rather  than  a  regular 
picture. 

The  style  of  the  figures,  which  are  generally  on  a  very  small  scale,  is  the 
same  as  that  which  has  been  described  above  (p.  360)  ;  they  are  slender, 
gentle  in  action,  and  already  a  little  swaying  in  carriage.  The  limbs  are 
sometimes  much  contorted,  and  the  motives  border  upon  the  fancifully 
affected.  Energetic  gestures  succeed  less  well  than  soft  ;  but  the  purpose  of 
the  artist  expresses  itself  always  in  an  unforced  and  natural  way.  The  feet 
are  small  and  feeble,  the  hands  rather  better  understood,  the  faces  of  a 
delicate  oval,  with  half-open  eyes  and  arched  eyebrows.  In  spite  of  the 
simplicity  of  the  method,  we  begin  to  perceive  an  endeavour  after  facial  ex- 
pression, which,  however,  results  in  most   cases  in  a  merely  conventional   smile. 


364  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

The  set  classical  cast  of  drapery  is  given  up,  and  the  folds  are  arranged  in 
rich  and  sweeping  masses.  The  figure  pieces  are  sometimes  placed  within 
the  initials,  filling  the  whole  space,  so  that  the  body  of  the  letter  forms  the 
border  ;  sometimes  they  are  inserted  independently  in  the  text,  and  in  that 
case  are  enclosed  by  an  architectural  border  in  the  purest  Gothic — arcades 
filled  in  with  geometrical  tracery  on  slender  columns,  enclosed  between  flying 
buttresses  and  surmounted  by  steep  gables.  Gold  predominates  in  these 
architectural  frames,  and  gold  sometimes  still  forms  the  background,  but  a 
coloured  carpet-pattern  of  chequers  or  lozenges  generally  takes  its  place.  The 
ornamental  borders  are  formed  of  the  thorn-leaf  pattern,  which  came  in  at  this 
time  ;  tendrils  ending  in  small  leaves,  generally  of  dull  gold,  and  designed 
with  just  as  much  realism  as  the  leaf-work  in  Gothic  architecture,  fill  the 
spaces  with  graceful  and  flowing  lines. 

As  transitional  works  from  the  early  part  of  the  thirteenth  century,  we 
may  mention  a  Psalter  at  Paris,  executed  for  the  mother  of  S.  Louis  ;  it 
shows  vivid  expression,  an  execution  more  like  drawing  than  painting,  and  a 
gold  ground  ;  also  a  Psalter  at  Venice,  and  again  a  third  at  Paris,  in  which  large 
compositions,  such  as  the  Death  of  the  Virgin,  are  treated  with  the  old  orna- 
mental divisions  without  architectural  borders,  but  the  figures  already  show 
slender  proportions,  with  softness  and  daintiness  of  motive.^ 

The  new  style,  as  we  have  called  it,  next  appears  fully  developed  in  a 
psalter  of  S.  Louis,  which  is  astonishing  for  the  number  and  uniformly 
delicate  finish  of  its  pictures  ;  they  include  scenes  from  the  Old  Testament, 
from  the  Sacrifice  of  Cain  and  Abel  to  the  Conversion  of  Saul,  and  the  illustra- 
tions to  the  Psalms  are  placed  in  the  openings  of  the  initial  letters  (Fig.  96). 
The  courtly  as  well  as  the  military  life  of  the  thirteenth  century  is  here 
livingly  depicted  ;  the  conceptions  are  fresh  and  natural,  but  wanting  in  vigour 
and  bluntness  ;  the  treatment,  we  feel,  is  crippled  by  the  conventionality  of 
court  manners  and  the  prevalence  of  a  deportment  refined  to  the  point  of 
affectation.''  A  book  not  to  be  compared  to  this,  but  interesting  because  it  is 
dated,  is  the  Abbreviatio  figuralis  historice,  executed  A.D.  1287  for  the  abbot 
Yvo  of  Cluny.  Coming  from  one  of  the  most  celebrated  French  monasteries, 
it  shows  that  these  institutions  kept  up  their  activity  in  such  arts  side  by  side 
with  the  lay  workshops.^ 

The  effort  after  tenderness  and  charm  increased  subsequently,  and  from 
the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century  the  almost  harsh  brightness  of  the 
colours  was  softened  by  the  use  of  more  delicate  and  broken  tones  ;  and 
although  the  manner  of  sharply  drawing  with  the  point  is  still  preserved, 
attempts  at  modelling  begin  to  show  themselves.  A  splendid  work  of  this  class 
is  the  Treasure-book  of  the  abbey  of  Origny  in  Picardy ;  it  was  begun  A.D.  i  3  i  2, 
during  the  rule  of  the  abbess  Heloise  de  Conflans,  and  is  now  at  Berlin  ;^ 
it  contains  fifty-four  pictures    from    the   legends  of  S.  Benedicta,  the  patroness 


MEDL^VAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD. 


3(3; 


of  the  abbey.  The  Hmbs  are  far  too  emaciated,  and  the  wrists  often  un- 
naturally thin  ;  in  incidents  of  emotion  the  tiirning  up  of  eyes  and  drawing  up 
of  eyebrows  pass  all  measure  ;  but  an  amiable  grace  of  sentiment  makes 
up  for  many  shortcomings  ;  with  the  exception  of  patches  of  vermilion,  the 
tones  are   on  the   whole   tender   and  broken  ;  the   flesh  parts  are   shaded  with 


Fig.  96. 

a   reddish    tinge.      The   ground    within    the    simple    border   is   almost    without 
exception  formed  of  gold-leaf  (Fig.  97). 

An  artistically  interesting  class  of  manuscripts,  which  at  this  time  came 
into  vogue  in  I'" ranee,  is  that  of  picture-Bibles.  The  Bible  Jiistorice  took  in 
France  something  like  the  place  taken  by  the  Bihlia  paupcruiii  in  Germany, 
but  was  arranged  in  a  different  way.  While  in  the  Jnblicx  paupcntvi  the  lead- 
ing subjects  are  taken   consecutively  from   the   New  Testament,  only  that  each 


366 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


is  accompanied  by  two  others  which   prefigure   it   from   the   Old,  in  the  Bible 
Jiistorice  it  is  the   Old   Testamertt  which  is   illustrated   consecutively,  from   the 


Fig.  97. 


Creation  down,  only  that  each  subject  is  associated  with  another  from  the  New 
which  brings  out  its  symbolic  significance  in  reference  to  the  work  of  redemp- 
tion through  Christ.  The  text  is  generally  in  French,  and  limited  to  a  short 
explanation  of  the  illustrations.  A  manuscript  of  this  class  from  the  beginning 
of  the   fourteenth   century  is   preserved    in   the  Imperial  Library  at  Vienna  ;   it 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  367 

stands  artistically  on  about  the  same  level  as  the  Origny  Thesaurus,  but  the 
colouring  is  fuller,  stronger,  and  more  harmonious.  It  opens  with  a  large 
principal  picture  representing  God  the  Father  measuring  the  earth  with  a  com- 
pass to  satisfy  himself  that  all  is  in  order.  Each  of  the  following  pages 
contains,  and  always  on  one  side,  eight  medallions  on  a  gold  ground  ;  beneath 
each  narrative  picture  in  these  medallions  comes  a  symbolical  one,  while  small 
square  fields  between  them  are  generally  filled  with  busts  of  angels  ;  the  whole 
is  on  a  diapered  ground,  so  that  the  arrangement  resembles  in  its  divisions  that 
of  a  painted  window.^*^ 

The  date  of  a  life  of  S.  Denis  in  three  volumes  at, Paris  is  certified  by  the 
dedication  picture  at  the  beginning  of  the  first  volume  ;  it  represents  King 
Philip  V.  itJie  Long,  A.D.  i  3  16-1  322)  to  whom  the  abbot  ^gidius  of  S.  Denis  is 
handing  the  manuscript.  The  treatment  of  the  legendary  scenes  here  is  rather 
monotonous,  although  the  stories  are  told  with  an  exaggeration  of  detail  ;  the 
affected  grace  of  the  motives  is  almost  more  striking,  but  the  little  pictures 
which  recur  everywhere  among  the  larger  ones,  in  a  kind  of  predella,  are 
really  original.  In  these  the  scene  of  the  story  is  indicated  by  a  view  of  Paris 
with  houses  and  fortifications  along  the  river,  and  this  scenery  is  enlivened  by 
constantly  changing  motives  from  every-day  life  ;  in  the  water  we  see  boats 
and  people  bathing  ;  in  the  houses  the  goldsmith  at  his  toil,  the  money- 
changer at  his  business,  the  miller  carrying  sacks,  the  beggar  seeking  his 
bread  from  door  to  door,  the  unlading  of  wares,  the  rolling  of  a  truck  across 
the  bridge,  or  the  sally  of  a  mounted  knight  with  hawk  on  wrist.  These  are 
the  first  beginnings  of  real  ^6V//r-painting.  At  the  same  time  animation  is 
given  to  the  lovely  tendril-work  of  the  border  with  its  tiny  realistic  leaves,  by 
birds  balancing  themselves  on  the  twigs,  and  by  dragons  and  grotesque  fancies 
of  all  kinds.^^ 

These  whimsical  fancies  or  droleries  in  the  borders  occur  more  and 
more  frequently  from  this  time  forth,  and  their  malicious  fun  appears  even  in 
manuscripts  of  solemn  subjects.  Masks  peer  out  from  among  the  ornaments  ; 
fantastic  demi-brutes  writhe  from  the  branches.  Strange  monsters  flout  or 
fight  one  another.  An  ape  leads  a  man  by  a  chain  and  makes  him  dance  ; 
apes  keep  school  ;  a  hare  carries  the  sportsman  on  the  point  of  his  spear  ; 
hares  lay  siege  to  a  city.  It  is  the  topsy-turvy  world  of  fable  and  popular  tale, 
whose  images  the  painting  of  the  age  has  adopted  from  its  poetry.'^  Scenes  of 
love,  the  joust,  the  chase,  arc  thrown  in,  with  figures  of  monks  and  bishops, 
shepherds  and  sportsmen,  jugglers,  beggars,  and  nuns.  Mocking  whimsicality 
claims  its  place  here  just  as  in  the  gargoyles  of  Gothic  churches  and  in  the 
carved  seats  of  their  choir  stalls.  T^xamples  particularly  .saucy  and  entertaining 
are  contained  in  two  large  Latin  Bibles,  the  Jaromir.sch  Bible,  a  manuscript  of 
French  origin  in  the  Bohemian  Museum  at  Prague,  and  a  Latin  Vulgate  in 
three  volumes,  written  at  Mons  (Bergen)  in  the  Hennegau,  and  now  at  Stuttgart 


368  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

(see  Fig.  98).^^  But  a  French  missal  in  the  Library  at  the  Hague  surpasses 
everything  else  of  this  kind.  Wolf,  fox,  and  goat  wear  the  cowl,  confess  one 
another,  and  say  their  prayers  to  Satan  ;  women,  centaurs,  and  monkeys  fight 
together  ;  the  unicorn  takes  refuge  in  the  maiden's  lap  ;  a  woman  with  a  spindle 
runs  after  a  fox  who  has  stolen  the  goose.  Occasionally  small  Scriptural  scenes 
also  appear  ;  then  the  allegory  of  the  wheel  of  Fortune,  and  Death  with  an  arrow 
riding  on  an  ox.  Here,  too,  as  in  the  Bibles  last  mentioned,  the  large  religious 
pictures  are  artistically  no  match  for  these  comicalities.  A  dedication  picture 
at  the  end  exhibits  the  donor,  Johannes  de  MarcJiello,  abbot  of  the  Praemonstra- 
tensian  monastery  of  S.  John  at  Amiens,  in  the  act  of  receiving  the  book  from 
the  hands  of  the  scribe,  Garnerus  de  Morolio  ;  an  inscription  at  the  top  of  the 
picture  gives  their  names  and  that  of  the  illuminator,  Petrus  dictus  de  Raim- 
baiccoiwt,  and  also  the  date  A.D.  1323.^* 

This  careful  and  finished  handling,  this  luxurious  getting  up,  continued  to  be 


Fig.  98. 

confined  almost  entirely  to  books  of  devotion.  But  at  the  same  time  poems  of 
chivalry,  stories  in  the  vernacular,  didactic  poems  and  chronicles,  began  to  be 
illustrated  more  than  formerly,  and  though  the  execution  of  these  was  slight, 
they  suffice  to  show  the  taste  of  the  time,  and  to  give  lively  pictures  of  the  most 
varied  incidents.  A  History  of  the  World,  Les  Histoires  de  Roger,  at  Paris,  is  a 
good  example  of  this  style ;  also  a  manuscript  of  the  French  poem  Le  voeii  du  paon, 
at  Donaueschingen,  and  one  of  the  Histoire  d' Alexandre  in  the  Brussels  Library, 
with  ninety-two  pictures  of  battles,  duels  of  giants  and  monsters,  and  so  on, 
executed  in  slightly-coloured  pen-drawings.  A  Brussels  manuscript  of  the  book 
of  poems  called  Miracles  de  Notre  Dame  et  Vies  des  Peres  shows  a  somewhat  simi- 
lar treatment,  together  with  a  very  charming  Gothic  style.  At  the  close  of  the 
first  poem,  Gautier,  the  master  who  had  rhymed  the  book,  appears  writing  it, 
and  also  presenting  it  to  the  Madonna.  Here  we  find  illustrated  stories,  such 
as  the  legend  of  Theophilus,  which  we  know  through  Conrad  von  Scheiern,  and 
the  story  of  the  abbess  with  child  ;  also,  and  twice  over,  a  legend  very  charac- 
teristic of  the  fancy  and  humour  of  the  time,  that  of  the  monk  who  carves  such 
a  hideous  image  of  the  devil,  that  the  latter  himself  appears  to  the  artist  in  a 
fury  and  attempts  revenge.      Two  copies  of  the  Breviari  d^amor  by  Ermengaud 


MP:DLEVAL  painting— final  period.  369 

de  Beziers,  in  the   Imperial  Library  at  Vienna,  contain  religious  representations 
of  an  allegorical  and  mystical   character,  as  also  do  various   manuscripts  of  the 
Apocalypse  with  commentaries,  among  which  the  Scriptiim  super  Apocalypsim  at 
Prague  is  of  peculiar  value,  though  the  illustrations  are  only  drawn  with  the  pen.^^ 
In    England,  although   active   intercourse  with  the  arts  of  France  had  long 
subsisted,  the   old   taste   in   miniature-painting  still   held    its  own,  and    in   that 
country  the    new    style    which    had    arisen    in    France    by   the    middle   of  the 
thirteenth   century  did  not  make  way  until   its   close.^"      From   that   time  forth, 
however,  English  works  were  produced  as  good  as  the  best  French  of  the  same 
period,  such  as  the  Psalter  of  the  monk  Robert  of  Ormsby  from    Norwich,  and 
two  other  Psalters  in  the  British  Museum.^"     The  last  of  these  two  especially  has 
many   charming   motives  ;    it  contains   a  great    number  of  Bible  scenes   on   a 
patterned  ground,  and  on  the  whole  may  be  classed  with  the  Origny  manuscript, 
though   the   style  exhibits   sometimes  a  still   more   mannered  grace.      Here  we 
still  find  simple  primitive  colours,  as  vermilion  and  blue  ;   but  in  other  English 
manuscripts   tender  broken   tones,  light   pink  for  example,  are  preferred.      The 
shading  and  details  are  rendered,  as  in  France,  by  meagre  pen-work  on  surfaces 
filled  in  with  body-colour.     The  Gothic  taste  prevails  often  even  to  excess  in  the 
proportions  and  movements.      All  these  books  contain  also  exhibitive  religious 
compositions  treated  with  a  solemn  dignity.      Certain   allegorical   subjects  seem 
to  belong  specially  to  the   English  school,  as  for   instance  the  representation   of 
the  Tree  of  Vice  with  the  serpent  between  Adam  and  Eve,  placed  as  a  pendant 
to   the   Tree  of  Virtue,  round  which  are  grouped   personifications  of  the   four 
Cardinal  Virtues.      The   borders,  which  are  peculiarly  rich,  occasionally  contain 
serious  subjects,  but  oftener  the  rarest   comicalities.      Pictures  with  animal   sub- 
jects recur  often  ;   such  as  the  unicorn  and  elephant  fighting,  the  unicorn  taking 
refuge  in  the  maiden's  lap  (a  well-known  symbol  of  Mary's  virginity),  also  sirens 
and  combats  of  fabulous  animals.     Lastly,  in  one  of  the  London  Psalters  above 
named,  the  legend  of  the  three   Dead   and  the  three   Living,  to  which  wc  shall 
return  later  on,  is  also  to  be  found. 

II.  Germany  UNTII,  A.D.  1350. — In  P^ngland,  Spain,  and  the  Netherlands, 
miniature-painting  at  this  time  became  entirely  dependent  on  the  French  school, 
neither  could  Germany  escape  the  same  influence  ;  but  the  German  miniatures 
after  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century  are  far  behind  the  French.  This 
branch  of  art  had  flourished  so  long  as  it  worked  under  the  old  conditions,  and 
according  to  the  unbroken  Romanesque  tradition,  l^ut  the  tradition  was  now 
exhausted  ;  the  activity  of  the  monasteries  in  the  illumination  of  manuscripts 
ceased,  and  by  the  lay  hands  into  which  it  passetl  the  art  was  carried  on  in  a 
mechanical  and  amateur  manner,  and  without  the  guidance  of  any  fixed  school 
prescription.  The  ]'"rcnch  taste  was  indeed  taken  up,  but  in  a  coarser  shape, 
anrl  with  less  encouragement  from  the  ujjper  classes. 


37° 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


An  early  example  of  this  period  may  be  seen  in  the  manuscript  of  the 
SacJisenspiegel,  with  rough  pen  drawings,  in  the  Library  at  Heidelberg.^^ 
Several  manuscripts  of  poems  from  the  thirteenth  and  first  half  of  the  fourteenth 
centuries  are  also  noteworthy.  The  style  of  drawing  that  we  found  before  in 
the  Berlin  Eneidt  and  in  the  manuscripts  from  Scheiern  still  exists  in  a  Munich 
collection  of  songs  from  Benedictbeuren,  with  its  outline  drawings  on  a  coloured 
ground,  and  emaciated  figures  which  already  betray  the  influence  of  the  new  style 
in  their  movements  and  in  the  setting  of  the  heads.  The  subjects  represented  are 
the  wheel  of  Fortune,  the  story  of  ^neas  and  Dido,  tipplers,  chess-players,  draught- 


Fig  99. 


players,  and  dicers.  The  same  taste  also  prevails  in  the  Parcival  of  Wolfram  von 
Eschenbach,  in  the  same  library,  which  has  pictures  in  outline  still  more  slightly 
tinted  on  a  gold  or  coloured  ground,  and,  lastly,  in  two  manuscripts  of  the 
Tristan  of  Gottfried  von  Strassburg  (also  at  Munich):  the  richest  of  the  two. 
dating  from  about  A.D.  1300,  not  only  represents  lively  scenes  of  knightly  life, 
but  in  the  exaggerated  sentimentality  of  the  expressions  breathes  the  very  spirit 
of  the  chivalry  of  that  age.  The  heads,  with  their  languishing  eyes,  are  childish, 
but  meant  to  be  sweet,  and  there  is  a  distinct  striving  after  grace  in  the 
motives;  the  men  are  beardless,  the  hair  carefully  arranged,  the  draperies  flowing 
but  not  understood,  the  horses  rudely  drawn,  and  the  indications  of  landscape 
quite  primitive.  The  backgrounds  are  coloured  with  a  full  brush,  but  otherwise 
the  drawings  are,  as  a  rule,  but  slightly  touched  with  colour.  The  sea-voyage 
(Fig.  99)  is  a  characteristic  example  of  these  miniatures.^^ 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD. 


371 


After  this  appears  the  French  style,  in  which  the  outhnes  become  filled  in 
with  flatly-laid  body-colour,  as  in  the  two  famous  collections  of  Minnelieder  at 
Stuttgart  and  Paris.  The  motives,  often  taken  from  the  songs  themselves,  are 
rather  monotonous  in  the  former,  but  the  pictures  in  the  Paris  manuscript,  which 


Fia:.  icxD. 


is  somewhat  later  ( fourteenth  century),  are  not  only  much  more  numerous 
(amounting  to  one  hundred  and  fourteen)  but  also  on  a  larger  scale  and  richer 
in  design.  We  find  here  the  Emperor  Henry  and  King  Wenzel  of  Bohemia  on 
their  thrones,  the  latter  surrounded  by  other  minstrels;  King  Conrad  the  Younger 
{Com-adiii)  riding  to  the  chase  (Fig.  100)  ;  Margrave  Otho  of  Brandenburg 
playing  chess  with  a  lady  ;   others  joust  while  ladies  look  on  from  a  verandah  * 


372  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

Count  Kraft  of  Toggenburg  mounts  a  ladder  to  his  mistress's  window  ;  Heinrich 
von  Stretlingen  leads  a  fair  lady  to  the  dance  ;  the  minstrel  Walther  von  der 
Vogelweide  sits  meditating  cross-legged  on  a  stone ;  the  schoolmaster  of 
EssHngen  keeps  his  school;  Kristan  von  Luppin  fights  with  the  Saracens. 
The  Battle  of  the  Bards  is  represented  at  Klingesor  in  Hungary  But  there 
has  nowhere  been  either  the  intention  or  the  power  to  give  true  portraits  in 
these  pictures.  Nothing  except  the  situation  and  the  costume  is  really  charac- 
teristic. The  lapdogs  of  the  ladies  and  the  horses  of  the  knights  are  not 
unskilfully  rendered,  but  are  often  painted  capriciously  blue  or  red  ;  landscapes, 
buildings,  and  fortresses  are  only  indicated.  Everything  is  full  of  life,  spirit, 
and  freshness,  and  pleasant  to  look  at,  though  rude  and  slight.  The  sentimental 
vein  again  predominates ;  even  in  stirring  battle  scenes  the  motives  are 
mannered,  although  there  is  an  attempt  to  represent  the  passions  of  fear, 
anxiety,  and  the  like.  Expression  in  the  faces  is  sought  by  drawing  up  the 
corners  of  the  mouth  and  slanting  the  eyes  crooked.  Instead  of  the  diapered 
backgrounds  of  the  French  miniatures  the  ground  here  remains  uncoloured, 
and  instead  of  the  delicate  execution  on  a  minute  scale  we  find  a  broad,  con- 
fident, but  quite  rough  treatment.  In  the  Stuttgart  manuscript,  as  well  as  in 
the  oldest  and  best  pictures  of  that  at  Paris,  the  colour  is  fresh  and  brilliant  ; 
but  while  in  the  former  the  shadows  are  only  drawn  in,  in  the  latter  we  find  a 
broad  coloured  shading  laid  on  with  the  brush,  as  well  as  an  occasional  applica- 
tion of  gold  and  also  of  silver.^''  A  still  more  completely  French  style  appears 
in  a  manuscript  of  Willehalm  at  Cassel,  written  A.D.  1334  for  the  Landgrave 
Henry  of  Hesse,  The  outlines  are  carefully  coloured,  the  shadows  are  given  in 
a  darker  tone  of  the  local  colour,  the  grounds  are  either  gold  or  patterned,  the 
draperies  have  a  Gothic  flow,  and  the  costume  of  the  time  is  accurately  repro- 
duced. The  horses  are  rudely  drawn,  and  the  movements  awkward  in  spite  of 
the  best  efforts  to  make  them  life-like,  but  quiet  positions  are  often  felt  with 
tenderness  and  charm."^ 

Among  the  manuscripts  of  the  Biblia  paiiperum,  the  German  counterpart, 
as  we  have  said,  of  the  French  Bible  historiee,  one  in  the  convent  of  S.  Florian 
in  Austria  is  characteristic  of  the  first  half  of  the  fourteenth  century.^^  Thirty-four 
representations,  extending  from  the  Annunciation  to  the  Death  of  the  Virgin, 
contain  in  a  central  circle  the  story  of  the  Gospel;  next  to  this  the  half-length 
figures  of  four  prophets  and  writers  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  at  the  side  two 
Old  Testament  subjects  prefiguring  that  of  the  principal  picture.  In  these  the 
strong  division  between  events  ante  legem  and  sub  lege,  under  the  old  Covenant 
and  the  new,  is  not  insisted  on  as  it  was  insisted  on  so  early  as  A.D.  i  i  8  i  in 
the  enamelled  altar  of  Nicolaus  of  Verdun  in  Klosterneuberg,  or  again  later  in 
the  printed  Biblia  paiiperimi  of  the  fifteenth  century.  The  Speculum  humancB 
salvatioiiis,  in  the  Cathedral  Library  at  Kemsmiinster,  and  the  Summa  caritatis 
in  the  monastery  of  Lilienfeld,  which,  dating  from  the  time  of  the  Abbot  Ulrich 


MEDIAEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD. 


373 


(A.D.    1345-1351),    differ 
from  the  manuscript  above 
named   in   the   capricious 
introduction  of  new  types, 
and   the    forced   explana- 
tions in  the  spirit  of  later 
learning.    A  picture  Bible 
of  another  kind  is  one  of 
Bohemian    origin    in    the 
Library  of  Prince  Lobko- 
Avitz   at   Prague,  the   first 
part  of  which  dates  from 
the  close  of  the  thirteenth 
century      The  stories  of 
the   Old  Testament  from 
the    Creation    down    are 
here     treated     in     slight 
drawings,       occasionally 
liehtlv  coloured.     Person- 
ifications,     according     to 
the  old  usage,  also  occur. 
The    architecture    is    still 
essential!)-     Romanesque, 
with  the  exception  of  oc- 
casional   Gothic    motives 
in  the  canopies.    The  Old 
Testament  stories  are  fol- 
lowed by  the  miracles  and 
passion  of  Christ,  scenes 
from  the  Apocalypse,  mar- 
tyrdoms, and  at   the  end, 
added  at  a  later  time,  de- 
tailed   representations    of 
the     legend     of    Wenzel. 
The    young  man    Vcllis- 
laics,    who    kneels    before 
S.  Catherine,  towards  the 
end   of  the   book,  is   evi- 
dently the  donor,  and  not, 
as  formerly  assumed,  the 
artist.^^ 

In     Bohemia,     which 


Fig.  loi. 


374  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

was  at  that  time  a  flourishing  countr)-,  thoroughly  imbued  with  German 
culture,  was  produced  also  one  of  the  best  early  fourteenth-century  manu- 
scripts of  the  German  school,  the  Passionalc,  written  A.D.  13 12,  for  the 
Princess  Kunigunde,  Abbess  of  S.  George  at  Prague.  On  the  dedica- 
tion page  appear,  together  with  the  enthroned  abbess,  the  Dominican 
Colda  as  author  and  the  Canon  Benessius  as  transcriber  of  the  book.  Small 
marginal  drawings  explain  the  legend  of  a  bride  who  is  carried  off  b}'  robbery 
and  thrust  into  a  furnace,  but  presently  rescued  by  her  knight,  who  slays  the 
robber  (Fig.  i  o  i ,  from  which  has  been  omitted  the  last  scene,  representing  the 
coronation  of  the  bride).  The  armour  of  the  knight,  with  the  cross  and 
symbols  of  the  Passion,  comes  first.  An  introduction  extending  from  the 
Creation  of  Eve  to  the  Fall  is  followed  by  a  detailed  representation  of  the  life 
and  sufferings  of  Christ ;  at  the  end  come  allegorical  illustrations  to  a  treatise 
on  the  heavenly  mansions,  which  was  added  to  the  book  A.D.  1 3 1 4.  The 
technical  method  here  used  is  not  at  all  French,  but  rather  a  broad  transparent 
style  in  water-colour,  shaded  with  the  brush.  The  figures  are  slender,  with  long 
hands,  and  often  lumpy  draperies.  But  what  is  most  significant  is  the  wrestling 
with  form,  the  striving  after  animation  and  spiritual  expression.  The  grace  of 
the  French  style  is  indeed  wanting  ;  harsh  movements  and  exaggerated  features 
appear  ;  but  the  artist  had  something  to  say  ;  and,  in  spite  of  all  shortcomings, 
knew  how  to  imbue  with  a  grand  pathos  such  figures  as  the  Mother  of  Sorrows, 
or  the  young  man  raised  from  the  dead  appearing  to  his  mother.  Fourteenth 
century  Gothic  already  prevails  in  the  architecture.-^ 

III.  French  School  after  a.d.  1350. — In  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth 
century  there  appeared  in  France  an  altered  st}-le,  which  was  indeed  in  all 
respects  a  development  of  the  preceding,  but  differed  from  it  in  this,  that  it 
worked  out  a  really  pictorical  method  of  treatment.  Instead  of  drawings  filled 
in  with  flat  coats  of  opaque  colour,  we  have  now  properly  modelled  work  in 
gouache.  The  artist  works  with  the  brush,  and  with  it  gives  shadow  and  relief  to 
objects,  expressing  their  form  by  a  modification  of  their  coloured  surfaces  instead 
of,  as  formerly,  only  by  the  direction  of  their  bounding  lines.  A  flesh  tone  of 
great  tenderness  and  fine  modelling  is  introduced,  whereas  hitherto  the  nude  has 
been  merely  represented  by  spaces  left  blank  m  the  vellum.  Strong,  bright 
colours  are  combined  with  broken  tones  in  the  draperies,  and  with  all  their  rich- 
ness are  wrought  into  an  agreeable  harmony.  Like  the  glass-painters  of  this 
period,  of  whom  we  shall  speak  later,  the  illuminators  often  work  in  grey  mono- 
chrome, producing  a  sculpturesque  effect  by  force  of  shading,  while  the  flesh  tones 
only  are  lightly  coloured,  and  other  colours  or  gilding  appear  but  occasionally  in 
the  borders  of  dresses,  in  details,  or  on  the  ground  beneath  the  feet  of  the  figures. 
This  new  pictorial  feeling  invited  to  a  more  accurate  observation  of  nature, 
although  artists  still  succeed  better  in  the  mild  and  winning  than  in  the  energetic 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD. 


375 


and  robust.  Sometimes  even  an  endeavour  after 
individuality  may  be  perceived  ;  thus  a  true 
portrait  of  a  donor  is  often  introduced.  Ideal 
drapery,  but  broader  and  more  effective  than 
heretofore,  is  still  used  for  sacred  personages, 
but  in  the  accessory  figures  of  religious  pic- 
tures, in  scenes  from  chronicles  and  romances 
or  classical  antiquity,  which  last  become  more 
numerous  as  the  ancient  writers  arc  more  trans- 
lated—  in  these  the  costume  of  the  time  fills 
even  a  greater  place  than  formerly,  and  is 
treated,  as  are  all  details,  such  as  furniture,  fit- 
tings, architectural  canopies,  and  surroundings, 
with  great  precision.  The  backgrounds,  on 
the  other  hand,  still  remain  just  as  they  were, 
coloured  in  diapers  or  chequers,  with  an  occa- 
sional use  of  gold.  It  was  not  till  the  close 
of  the  period  we  are  considering  that  artists 
felt  the  necessity  of  developing  and  suggesting 
the  real  surroundings  of  nature  also,  by  the 
introduction  of  conventional  trees,  hills,  Gothic 
buildings,  and  blue  sky  ;  in  all  which  linear 
perspective  is  barely  attempted,  and  atmo- 
spheric perspective  not  at  all.  The  earlier  taste 
still  continues  m  the  initials  and  border  orna- 
ments ;  the  thorn-leaf  pattern,  into  which  little 
coloured  flowers  are  by  degrees  inserted,  is 
enlivened  by  birds,  and  sometimes  by  angels, 
and  then  by  comical  incidents  which  are  inex- 
haustible for  humour  and  charm.  (See  Fig. 
1 02,  a  border  from  a  Psalter  executed  for  the 
Due  dc  Bcrri).  The  illuminated  manuscripts  -^ 
of  this  group  are  important  to  the  history  of 
painting,  as  it  was  in  them  that  the  effort  at 
complete  painting  first  makes  its  appearance 
in  the  Western  Europe  of  the  Middle  Age. 
They  lead  directly  to  the  Flemish  realism  of  ^ 
the  fifteenth  century. 

This  new  style  of  art  was  a  creation  of  the 

Court,  and  was  chiefly  developed  in  the  service 

t 
of  the  king  and  ])riii((snr  I-'raiicc.    The-  I-'rcncli 

King  John  (aak   1  350-1  364^  was   already  a  lover  of  books  ; 


(M 


,./>s 


<aj 


r4^ 


ievy> 


M 


^A 


w 


'A'r. 


,-    O" 


Ig.    102. 

and  the  taste  was 


376  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

handed  on  to  his  four  sons  ;  to  King  Charles  V.  {d.  A.D.  1380),  whose  Hbrary 
in  the  Louvre  contained  as  many  as  nine  hundred  and  ten  volumes  ;  to  John 
Duke  of  Berry  {d.  A.D.  14 16),  to  whose  patronage  were  due  many  of  the  finest 
manuscripts  of  the  time,  although  in  the  destruction  of  his  castle  of  Wincestre,  by 
order  of  the  mad  King  Charles  VI.,  a  great  deal  was  lost  and  the  remainder  dis- 
persed ;  to  Louis,  Duke  of  Anjou  ;  and  to  Philip  the  Bold,  Duke  of  Burgundy 
and  afterwards  Count  of  Flanders.  Other  Courts  as  well  as  other  great  nobles 
followed  the  royal  example.--^  These  libraries  consisted  firstly  of  religious  books 
of  all  kinds,  which  were  always  the  most  splendid  ;  to  the  chapel  belonged  the 
Missal,  the  Gospel-book,  the  Psalter,  and  various  choir  books  ;  to  the  prix-ate 
oratory  a  Breviary,  a  Missal,  and  various  forms  of  Praj'cr-books.  Then  there  were 
also  works  on  astronomy,  animals,  plants,  hunting,  jousting,  court  ceremonies,  and 
the  art  of  war  ;  moreover  romances  of  chivalry,  poems,  chronicles,  and  by-and-by 
translations  from  the  Italian,  especially  from  Boccaccio  and  Petrarch,  as  well  as 
from  the  ancients,  especially  Livy  and  Valerius  Maximus.  These  books  were 
preserved  carefully  among  the  plate  and  jewellery  ;  the  cost  of  getting  them  up 
and  their  value  in  money  were  considerable.  The  various  princely  libraries 
were  much  alike,  and  all  contained  much  the  same  books.  The  patron  by 
whom  the  book  was  ordered  was  often  mentioned  in  a  dedication,  or  indicated 
by  arms  and  devices  in  the  borders.  Those  belonging  to  the  Duke  of  Berry 
generally  contain  a  note  by  his  secretary  Flamel  ;  many  are  also  marked  with 
his  autograph,  "  JeJianr 

The  names  of  the  illuminators  are  seldom  found  in  the  books  themselves,  but 
sometimes  in  chronicles,  or  in  account-books  and  inventories.  Sometimes  they 
were  not  properly  illuminators  by  trade,  but  painters,  or  even  sculptors.  In  the 
service  of  princes  a  man  might  overstep  the  limits  as  to  the  division  of  labour  laid 
down  by  the  rules  of  his  guild.  Among  those  named  are  several  from  the  Nether- 
lands, Andrien  Beauneven  from  the  Hennegau,  who  is  held  up  by  Froissard  as  a 
paragon  in  sculpture  and  painting  ;  Jacquemart  von  Hesdin,  Paul  von  Limbnrg 
with  his  two  brothers,  all  in  the  service  of  the  Duke  of  Berry;  Joliann  von  Brugge, 
a  painter  to  Charles  V.  There  appears  also  the  name  of  a  French  illuminator, 
M agister  J oJuiJines  Nichasius  G alliens,  who  was  in  the  service  of  the  Duchess  of 
Brabant.  Brabant  and  Flanders  were  at  that  time  closely  allied  to  France  in 
matters  of  art,  and  from  the  constant  intercourse  between  the  countries  there 
arose  the  political  union  of  Flanders  and  Burgundy,  As  therefore  this  style  of 
miniature-painting  evidently  grew  out  of  the  French  school  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  it  would  be  going  too  far  if  on  the  strength  of  these  names  (which  can 
generally  be  only  doubtfully  connected  with  existing  works)  we  regard  this  as 
a  specifically  Flemish  school  established  on  French  soil.-*'  But  the  Flemish 
artists  may  indeed,  even  at  that  time,  have  greatly  contributed  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  specifically  picturesque  and  realistic  spirit  of  the  art. 

To  the  most  ancient  examples  of  this  Franco-Flemish  school  belong  a  trans- 


MEDL^VAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  377 

lation  of  Livy  made  for  King  John  ;  also  a  missal  now  at  the  Hague,  in  which 
there  is  only  a  partial  departure  from  the  old  style,  but  an  endeavour  at  least 
to  follow  nature  more  closely  begins  to  show  itself  in  the  subordinate  figures, 
and  pen  outline  has  already  given  place  to  brush  work.  According  to  a  notice 
on  the  last  page,  this  work  was  completed  A.D.  i  366  by  the  illuminator  Presbyter 
Laurentius  of  Antwerp,  living  at  Ghent.  To  about  the  same  time  belongs  also 
an  illustrated  Bible  in  Paris,  with  two  thousand  five  hundred  and  sixty-four 
pictures,  from  the  possessions  of  the  ducal  house  of  Burgundy.  The  death 
of  Duke  Philip  of  Burgundy  (Nov.  21,  1 361)  is  here  inserted  by  an  early 
hand  ;  this  Duke  was  the  predecessor  of  the  French  Prince  Philip  the  Bold, 
on  whom  King  John  conferred  the  vacant  fief  The  daint\-  little  pictures  in 
grey  monochrome  are  full  of  fancy,  and  treated  with  spirit  all  through  the 
book  ;  they  differ  from  the  Gothic  taste  of  the  first  half  of  the  century,  at 
least  by  the  naturalness  of  motive  in  the  minor  personages.-' 

The  manuscripts  executed  for  Charles  V.  of  France  are  more  advanced  in 
style.  Take  first,  for  instance,  a  large  French  Bible  now  at  the  Hague,  which 
contains  a  dedication  picture  of  the  king,  with  his  attendant  Jehan  Vandelar 
handing  him  the  book,  and  also  a  great  number  of  Bible  scenes.  According  to 
a  statement  on  the  title-page  the  dedication  picture  was  executed  with  his  own 
hand,  A.D.  1371,  by  the  court  painter  of  Bruges.  Also  the  same  king's  Bible 
and  the  French  Rationale  Divinornvi  Officioniui,  both  at  Paris  ;  the  last  was 
completed  for  the  king  A.D.  1374.-^  In  the  dedication  picture  we  find  the  king 
and  queen  seated  under  a  double  Gothic  arch  before  a  red  diapered  back- 
ground, and  surrounded  by  their  children,  who  are  all  fair  and  dressed  in 
blue  garments,  upon  which  simple  gold  lilies  are  strewn  in  a  purely  de- 
corative way,  and  without  regard  to  shading  ;  in  front  of  the  central  column, 
and  on  a  smaller  scale,  sits  the  scribe  looking  up  to  the  king  who  dictates  to 
him.  With  the  exception  of  one  larger  subject,  the  Coronation  of  the  king, 
the  pictures  are  all  small,  with  stone-coloured  draperies.  The  faces  are  uni- 
form, with  long  noses,  the  flesh-tone  light  and  tenderly  rendered,  without  letting 
the  pen-work  anywhere  appear,  but  the  figures  are  still  emaciated  and  Gothic. 
Better  is  a  French  translation  of  Aristotle  made  for  the  same  monarch  A.D.  1376 
by  Raoul  of  Orleans  (the  writer  of  the  above-mentioned  Bible  of  1371),  with 
the  heads  more  varied,  the  motives  natural  and  life-like,  and  signs  of  a  more 
careful  conduct  of  h'ght  and  shade.  The  picture  at  the  opening  of  Book  X.,  God 
the  Father  blessing  a  personified  Kthic,  belongs  to  the  most  refined  productions 
of  the  period.^'' 

A  Prayer-book  of  Philip  the  lV>ld  of  Burgundy  contains  only  a  few  unim- 
portant but  extremely  dainty  little  pictures.  The  Ojfui/iin  In-atac  I'iririi/is  m 
the  Ikitish  Museum,  a  Prayer-book  of  Margaret  of  Bavaria  (A.D.  1389),  wife  of 
Philip's  son  Jeati  sa/is  Pcitr,  is  a  richer  exami)le.'"'  The  same  Duke  John  the 
I'earlcss  made  his  uncle  the  Duke  of  Berr)-  a  present  of  one  of  the  most  remark- 

3  ^ 


378  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

able  books  of  the  time,  which  had  also  probably  been  executed  for  his  father 
Philip  the  Bold,  as  he  seems  to  be  the  person  intended  to  be  portrayed,  along 
with  the  older  prince,  in  the  dedication  picture  at  the  head  of  one  of  the 
writings  contained  in  the  volume.  This  is  the  Paris  manuscript  of  the  Book 
of  the  Wonders  of  the  World  {Le  Irore  des  inerveilles  du  iiiotide),  containing  the 
travels  of  Marco  Polo,  William  de  Mandeville,  Hayton,  and  others.  Here  were 
opportunities  enough  for  representations  of  real  life.  Various  incidents  of  travel 
are  illustrated,  and  not  only  negroes  and  elephants  appear,  but  also  the  fabulous 
beings  ascribed  by  legend  to  foreign  lands — men  with  umbrella  feet,  men  with 
but  one  eye,  women  with  beards,  men  with  the  heads  of  dogs,  tame  swine  with 
human  heads,  and  dragons  and  monsters  of  every  kind.  The  great  Khan  is 
depicted  at  table  with  the  members  of  his  Court.  In  the  descriptions  of  the 
Holy  Land,  Bible  scenes,  such  as  the  Crucifixion,  also  find  a  place.  The  artistic 
importance  of  the  work  is  not  great,  the  figures  stand  feebly  on  their  legs  ;  the 
colour  is  cheerful  but  not  powerful  ;  in  the  backgrounds,  however,  landscape 
has  already  completely  gained  the  upper  hand.'^^ 

Such  a  book  as  this  already  comes  near  the  Flemish  work  of  the  fifteenth 
century.  There  are  other  works  which  surpass  it  in  finish  and  even  in  the 
composition  of  the  figures,  but  they  follow  the  earlier  French  tradition  in  the 
backgrounds,  ornaments,  and  distribution  of  the  colours,  as  for  instance  the 
books  executed  for  the  Duke  of  Berry  himself  One  of  the  earlier  among  these 
— a  two-volume  Bible  in  the  British  Museum — contains,  besides  a  number  of 
narrative  subjects,  an  unusually  splendid  title-page  embodying  the  whole  cycle 
of  sacred  and  profane  knowledge.  Here  are  the  seven  Liberal  Arts  with  the 
ancient  philosophers  who  severally  represent  them,  and  above,  the  three  Theo- 
logical Virtues,  the  Trinity,  and  a  number  of  Saints.^-  Some  books  of  devotion 
in  Paris  are  still  more  beautiful,  especially  a  small  Psalter  belonging  to  the 
Duke,  which  can  be  recognised  as  identical  with  the  No.  1049  of  his  library 
catalogue.  The  note  against  this  manuscript  in  the  catalogue,  //  a  phisieurs 
Jdstoires  an  commencement  de  la  main  de  maitre  Andre  Beaiinepven,  would  refer 
to  the  representation  of  the  twelve  Prophets  and  twelve  Apostles  seated  facing 
each  other  in  pairs  at  the  beginning.  All  the  draperies  are  stone-coloured, 
but  otherwise  the  treatment  is  purely  pictorial  —  the  impasto  heavy,  the  faces 
executed  with  finished  delicacy,  the  expressions  sentimentally  mild,  verging 
indeed  upon  the  lackadaisical,  but  showing  at  any  rate  that  tendency  to  pensive 
inwardness  which  is  characteristic  of  the  whole  period.  The  hands  are  some- 
times weak,  the  feet  are  hidden  by  the  draperies,  but  otherwise  the  bodies  are 
well  understood.  The  cast  of  drapery  is  Gothic,  but  in  no  way  exaggerated. 
The  stone  architecture,  too,  of  the  late  Gothic  thrones  is  carefully  carried  out, 
and  the  grounds  are  diapered  in  gold  and  colours.  The  two  vignettes  which 
follow  farther  on  in  the  text  reproduce  motives  which  had  been  long  in  use  for 
some  of  the  principal  Psalms  ;  as  David  kneeling  with  a  harp  before  Jehovah  in 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— FINAT.  PERIOD. 


>/  9 


a  round-arched  chapel  {Blessed  is  the  man  that  hath  not  walked)  ;    David  sitting 
in  his  chamber  and  pointing  to  his  forehead,  while  Christ    appears    above  {The 


Fig.  103. 


Lord  is  my  light);  David  in  prayer  to  God  (/  said  I  zvill  take  heed  to  Jiiy  zvays) ; 
David  appearing  naked  on  the  waters  near  a  rocky  coast  {Save  vie,  0  Lord) ; 
then  playing  on  a  musical  instrument  {Be  glad) \  three  priests  singing  {O  sing); 
God  the  Father  and  Christ  buth  alike  and  seated  in  blue  draperies,  on  the 
throne  between  them  is  the  dene,  wliich  the  angel  .sends    forth    {The   Lord  said 


3 So  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

unto  my  lord).  But  the  best  little  picture  is  one  of  the  fool  {The  fool  hath  said)^ 
who  stands  almost  naked,  swinging  a  club  with  one  hand  and  putting  a 
piece  of  bread  in  his  mouth  with  the  other  ;  the  drawing  of  the  head  is  of  the 
utmost  tenderness,  and  the  attitude  perfectly  natural  ;  there  is  a  landscape 
background,  over  which  the  sky  is  only  rendered  by  a  diaper.^^ 

Still  more  sumptuous  is  the  so-called  Great  Book  of  Hours  {Grandes  Heiires) 
of  the  Duke,  not  completed,  as  Flamel  points  out,  until  A.D.  1409,  and  evidently 
identical  with  a  manuscript  inventoried  in  the  property  of  that  prince,  and  valued 
at  4000  liv7'es  toiirnois?'^  It  contains  pictures  by  Jacquemart  von  Hesdin.  Our 
reproduction  (Fig,  103)  shows  a  prettily  designed  Birth  of  the  Virgin,  with  the 
child  in  a  bath,  in  a  room  of  which  the  perspective  is  not  bad,  seen  through  late 
Gothic  arcading.  From  this  picture  we  also  get  an  idea  of  the  charming  ornamen- 
tation of  the  borders.  Small  bright-coloured  flowers  appear  among  the  graceful 
tendrils  of  the  thorn-leaf  pattern  ;  birds,  and  here  and  there  butterflies  of  the 
most  delicate  finish,  perch  on  the  twigs  or  flutter  about,  showing  the  awakening 
feeling  for  nature.  At  the  beginning  of  the  main  divisions  the  amies  et  devises 
of  the  Duke  always  recur,  as  here,  on  small  shields;  the  fleiir  de  lys,  the  letters 
VE  referring  to  the  pet  name  Oursine  {Ursine)  which  the  Duke  had  given  to 
his  wife  {Jeanne  de  Boulogne  et  d'Aicvergne),  also  the  emblems  of  the  bear  and 
swan  {ours,  cygne)  as  a  rebus  on  the  same  name.  Sometimes  also  the  motto 
le  temps  venra.  In  the  borders  elsewhere — for  all  the  pages,  even  of  the 
ordinary  text,  have  ornamental  borders — we   find    room    made   for   lovely  little 

angels  and  rare  caricatures,  as,  for  instance,  a  monkey 
examining  water  in  the  character  of  a  doctor,  a  tippling 
monk  whose  body  terminates  in  four  feet,  a  bishop,  also 
with  the  feet  of  a  quadruped,  wearing  a  bellows  for  mitre 
(Fig.  104).  The  borders  of  the  calendar  at  the  beginning 
are  also  worth  notice.  At  the  top  of  the  page  for  each 
month  there  is  a  stately  building,  on  the  battlements  of 
which  the  personification  of  the  Church  appears;  on  the 
left  S.  Paul  is  always  represented  in  different  positions, 
Y'\^  lol""  °"  ^^^  right  an  emblematical  picture  of  the  Month,  under- 

neath  the  Synagogue,  as  an  architectural  construction, 
between  the  figures  of  a  Prophet  and  an  Apostle  ;  the  former  continually  takes 
away  a  stone  till  the  building  falls  down  by  degrees.  Illustrated  calendars  of 
the  same  kind  appear  in  two  other  Prayer-books  of  the  same  school  and  period 
.  — in  the  Psalter  of  Louis,  Duke  of  Anjou  and  King  of  Jerusalem  and  Sicily 
(a.d.  I  390),  and  a  Breviary  of  Belleville  in  two  volumes,  in  which  a  detailed 
explanation  of  these  pictures  precedes  the  text.^^ 

The  last  work  belonged  later  to  the  Duke  of  Berry  ;  both  may  be  counted 
among  the  most  precious  of  the  whole  period,  and  are  inexhaustible  in  their 
wealth  of  pictures.      The  figures  are  dainty  and  expressive  even  while  they  are 


MEDL/EVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  381 

on  the  smallest  scale  ;  the  heads  are  admirably  modelled,  and  full  of  individual 
life.  The  painting  in  opaque  colour  is  clear,  tender,  and  yet  of  full  body;  only 
occasionall}'  the  blue  and  vermilion  are  too  opaque,  and  do  not  allow  of  effective 
shadows.  The  choice  of  subjects  is  often  very  curious.  In  the  Belleville  Breviary, 
as  indeed  the  preface  states,  under  the  seven  large  initial  letters  of  the  Psalter 
are  represented  the  seven  Sacraments,  and  at  the  sides  the  seven  Virtues  and  the 
seven  Deadly  Sins.  In  the  Prayer-book  of  Louis  of  Anjou,  the  dedication  picture 
represents  the  Duke  in  bed  and  in  his  night-shirt,  but  crowned,  surrounded  by 
courtiers,  and  receiving  the  book  from  an  ecclesiastic  ;  the  borders  are  filled 
with  seventeen  smaller  Bible  scenes.  The  Duke  appears  again  more  than  once, 
and  the  picture  has  always  distinctly  the  character  of  a  portrait.  Besides  the 
funeral  service,  we  also  find  at  the  end  of  the  book  an  illustration  of  the  legend, 
so  familiar  in  the  literature  of  that  time,  of  the  three  Living  and  three  Dead, 
or  the  moult  Dierveillaise  et  horrible  Jiistoire  que  len  dit  des  3  viorts  ct  des  3  vis. 
The  three  Dead,  among  whom  may  be  recognised  the  Duke  himself,  appear 
opposite  the  three  Living  as  their  doubles  or  reflections. 

All  these  books,  however,  arc  surpassed  by  the  Officium  beatce  Maria  Jlr- 
ginis  in  the  Bibliotluque  Mazarine ;  its  origin  is  unfortunately  not  certain, 
but  in  it  also  appear  the  three  lilies  of  the  royal  arms.  The  P^vangelists,  with 
their  writing-tables,  are  genuine  studies  of  caaracter.  S.  Mark,  for  instance, 
appears  as  a  comfortable  elderly  ecclesiastic,  who  sits  busily  at  his  work  with 
an  air  of  slight  ill-temper.  The  rooms  in  which  they  sit  are  complete  interiors, 
occasionally  giving  a  view  into  the  adjacent  room  or  into  the  court  with  its 
well.  The  seven  larger  pictures  from  the  legend  of  the  Virgin,  with  which  may 
be  ranked  also  David,  the  Crucifixion,  the  Outpouring  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
the  Service  of  the  Dead,  are  always  encircled  by  quite  small  side  subjects,  which 
complete  the  composition  or  continue  the  narrative  of  the  principal  picture. 
First  and  loveliest  is  the  Annunciation.  In  one  of  the  eleven  small  pictures 
belonging  to  it,  Mary  sits  beside  Joseph  on  the  garden-seat  spinning,  and 
between  these  little  pictures,  which  open  like  flowers  in  the  border,  float  angels 
with  lettered  banderoles,  while  other  angels  scatter  flowers  from  above.  The 
gestures  and  attitudes  of  the  slender  figures  are  always  of  an  inimitable  grace 
and  suavity,  the  exquisite  little  heads  with  light  yellow  hair  breathe  a  charm  of 
sweet  femin'ine  loveableness  which  we  shall  not  find  surpassed  in  the  panel 
pictures  of  the  school  of  Colcjgne.  There  is  throughout  a  fine  feeling  for  i)ro- 
portion,  distinction  in  the  draperies,  and  a  scheme  of  coloiu'  full  of  harmony  and 
freshness;    the  diaper  of  the  background  is  alreads'  (h'splaccd  b)'  landscape.'"' 

The  most  magnificent,  perhaps,  of  all  l'"rcnc]i  ]^-a\'er- books  is  one  in 
the  possession  of  the  Due  d'Aumale.  The  school  is  here  seen  at  its  highest 
point,  before  the  consistent  realism  of  the  later  l'"lcniings  ga\c  the  art  a  new 
turn.  The  recurrence  of  the  bear  ami  swan  as  i-nihlems  of  the  famih'  of 
Oursine  sIkjws  that  this  book  was  executetl  for  the  iJuke  of  lierr)-,  but  in  his  last 


382  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

days,  so  that  it  was  still  unfinished  at  his  death  (a.D,  14 16),  and  many  of  the 
pictures  all  through  the  book  were  added  by  a  separate  hand  not  earlier  than 
the  second  half  of  the  fifteenth  century.  It  is  supposed,  therefore,  that  this  is 
the  fragment  referred  to  in  the  last  inventory  of  the  Duke  as  :  Plusieiirs  caJiicrs 
d'line  tres  riches  Jieures  qjie  faisait  Pol  de  Limbourc  ct  scs  fir  res,  and  valued  at 
500  livres  tournois.  The  pictures  of  the  Months  in  the  calendar,  most  of  which 
belong  to  the  original  work,  have  already  developed  here  into  what  they  habitu- 
ally are  in  the  following  period,  large  pictures  of  ever\-  da)-  life  with  many 
figures,  and  filling  whole  pages.  In  the  month  of  January  the  Duke  is  repre- 
sented at  table.  The  landscapes,  too,  even  the  winter  landscape  for  February, 
already  show  a  cultivated  feeling  for  that  branch  of  art.''" 

Lastly,  noteworthy  books  of  another  kind  are — a  French  translation  of 
Boccaccio  in  the  Vatican,  finished  for  Charles  VI.  A.D.  1 4 1 4,  and  having  a  vignette 
for  each  story, — also  the  poems  of  Christina  of  Pisa  in  the  British  Museum  ; 
from  the  dedication  picture  we  see  that  this  was  painted  for  a  Queen  of 
France,  who  sits  enthroned  and  surrounded  by  six  ladies  of  her  court,  while  the 
kneeling  poetess  presents  her  with  the  book.  Here  we  find  representations 
from  the  classical  myths  after  the  fashion  of  the  day.  Polyphemus  appears  as 
a  northern  giant,  Jupiter  wears  the  crown  imperial,  Apollo  is  an  elegant  knight 
breaking  off  a  twig  of  the  laurel-tree  into  which  Daphne  has  been  changed. 
Fortune  turns  her  wheel  ;  Galatea,  though  half  under  water,  wears  court  dress. 
The  backgrounds  are  still  covered,  for  the  most  part,  with  a  pattern.  A  num- 
ber of  battle-scenes  are  but  lamely  handled.-^^ 

The  sketch-book  of  Master  Jacques  Daliwes  in  the  Berlin  Library  seems  to 
contain  designs  for  miniatures.  It  consists  of  twelve  little  wooden  tablets,  on 
which  are  Scripture  scenes  and  various  studies  of  heads  shaded  with  the  brush, 
and  with  the  high  lights  in  white.  The  landscape  parts  are  skilfully  conceived 
and  broad  in  treatment.  The  book  dates  from  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, and  the  sketches  seem  to  belong  to  the  very  limits  of  that  period,  and  to 
lead  directly  towards  the  full-blown  realism  of  the  following  epoch.-''-^ 

The  English  school  is  also  at  this  time  entirely  under  the  influence  of  the 
French.  The  characteristic  instance  is  the  Salisbury  book,  a  fragment  of  a 
lectionary  in  the  British  Museum.  It  was  executed  for  John  Lord  Lovel  of 
Tichmeish,  who  bequeathed  it  to  Salisbury  Cathedral,  A.D.  1408.  On  the  first 
dedication  picture,  the  author,  brother  John  Sifrewas,  presents  the  book  to 
Lord  Lovel.  Both  the  figures  show  individual  character.  This  is  followed  by 
a  number  of  religious  pictures,  chiefly  enclosed  in  the  initials.  The  borders  are 
in  thorn-leaf  pattern  enlivened  by  flowers,  scutcheons,  and  large  floating  figures 
of  angels.'*^ 

IV.  Germany  after  A.D.  1350. — A  corresponding  development  had  now 
gradually   crept    into    other   schools    as   well  as   into  the  French.      During  the 


MEDL^VAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  383 

second  half  of  the  fourteenth  century,  works  had  been  produced  in  Germany- 
far  surpassing  the  unskilled  and  ijiechanical  creations  of  the  earlier  period. 
Here,  as  in  France,  had  come  into  especial  prominence  a  school  which  had  its 
seat  at  a  royal  Court, — the  school,  namely,  of  Prague,  dating  from  the  time  of 
Charles  IV.  Germany  had  now,  for  the  first  time,  in  the  territories  of  the 
House  of  Luxembourg,  a  great  capital,  which,  though  in  the  very  centre  of  the 
Slav  country,  was  itself  strongly  German,  as  were  the  trading  and  industrial 
classes  of  Bohemia  in  general.  But  in  the  days  of  Charles  I\".  it  was  not  onl\- 
traditional  German  art  which  flourished  here,  but  influences  came  in  from  other 
countries  as  well.  The  object  of  the  Emperor  was  to  concentrate  at  his  capital 
the  culture  of  all  Europe.  He  profited  by  his  education  at  the  French  Court. 
The  wife  of  Charles  IV.  of  France  was  the  sister  of  his  father  King  John  of 
Bohemia,  and  he  himself  had  for  his  first  wife  Blanche  of  Valois,  sister  of 
Philip  \"I.  He  brought  his  early  French  impressions  with  him  to  his  own 
country,  and  in  after  life,  too,  his  relations  with  the  French  Court  were 
unchancrcd. 

Nevertheless,  French  influence  upon  Bohemian  miniature-painting  can  only 
be  spoken  of  with  limitations.  It  chiefly  showed  itself  in  the  fact  that  fine 
French  manuscripts  brought  at  this  time  into  this  country  served  the  native 
illuminators  as  models.  They  were  at  the  same  time  familiar  with  other  models 
from  Italy.  But  the  actual  growth  of  the  new  school  at  Prague  cannot  be  said 
to  have  depended  directly  upon  the  French  school,  but  only  to  have  been 
analogous  to  and  nearly  contemporary  with  it. 

The  Monastery  of  the  Knights  of  the  Cross  at  Prague  possesses  a  Breviar)% 
executed,  according  to  an  inscription,  in  A.D.  i  35  i,  by  brother  Leo,  Grand  Master 
of  the  Order,  which  still  shows  work  in  the  style  of  the  earlier  period.  The 
ground  of  the  (ew  pictures  it  contains  is  generally  blue,  with  gold  stars.  Some- 
times caricatures  of  the  French  kind  appear  in  the  borders,  but  the  treatment  is 
coarse  enough.  The  drawing  and  style  of  the  figures  is  late  Gothic,  and  the 
technical  method  a  thin  water-colour  gouaclic,  the  outlines  put  in  first  with  a 
pen.  Almost  at  the  same  time,  however,  we  find  in  the  ornamental  parts  care- 
ful brushwork  in  opaque  colour  and  a  finished  taste.  The  finest  example  of 
this  new  style  is  the  travelling  Breviary  {libc7'  viaticus)  of  the  Imperial  chancel- 
lor Johann  von  Neumarkt,  Bishop  of  Leitomischl,  now  in  the  Bohemian  Museum 
at  Prague.  The  title  of  Bishop  of  Leitomischl,  which  is  repeated  on  e\-erv  page, 
was  given  to  the  Chancellor  between  A.D.  1353  and  1364.  The  few  pages 
that  are  richly  decorated  with  figure-pieces  always  contain  one  Scrii)turc  scene 
in  a  large  initial  letter.  Thus  on  the  first  page  of  this  kind  we  see  Christ 
enthroned  with  angels,  and  under  him  King  Da\-id.  But  instead  of  nu-rcly 
the  thorn-leaf  pattern  iti  the  borders,  appears  a  ])lant  and  flower  ornament  on 
a  larger  scale,  and  more  richly  coloured.  Angel  figures  glide  up  and  down  the 
stems  from  which  gr<jw  the  plants  and  flowers  ;    fantastic  animals  also  occasion- 


384 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


ally  peep  out  ;  half-length  figures  of  Old  Testament  personages  emerge  some- 
times from  the  cups  of  flowers,  and  on  the  lower  border  there  are  spirited  little 
scenes,  sometimes  caricatures,  sometimes  illustrations  of  scripture  ;  among  them 
appears  once  and  again  the  bishop  himself  on  his  knees,  with  his  coat  of  arms. 
The  colour  is  rich,  blooming,  and  softly  gradated,  the  flesh  tints  delicate,  but 
redder  than  in  the  French  schools.      Unbroken  vermilion  and  brilliant  blue  are 


Fig.  105. 


also  used  here,  but  a  great  number  of  other  tones — purple,  violet,  and  rich  green, 
are  blended  with  them.      The  general  effect  is  blithe  and  bright. 

A  second  manuscript  in  the  Bohemian  Museum  is  equally  good  as  a  work  of 
art,  the  Mariale  of  Arnestus  of  Pardubitz,  first  Archbishop  of  Prague  (a.D.  i  344- 
1364)  ;  its  two  largest  pictures  are  the  Presentation  in  the  Temple  and  the  An- 
nunciation (Fig  105).  The  attitudes  and  gestures  show  great  tenderness,  in  spite 
of  weak  drawing  in  the  hands  and  feet.  The  heads  of  the  men  are  generally 
ruder,  and  remind  one,  with  their  thick  noses  and  projecting  cheek-bones,  of  the 
type  which  we  shall  find  again  in  the  panel  pictures  of  the  Prague  school.  The 
youthful  and  female  heads  are  delightful  from  their  sweetness  and  finely-cut 
eyes,  which  almost  recall  contemporary  Italian  work.      The  background  is  blue, 


MEDIAEVAL   PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD. 


385 


and  in  the  carefully 
worked-out  architecture 
there  is  an  attempt,  not 
indeed  very  successful, 
at  perspective.'*^ 

This  style,  which  was 
founded  under  Charles 
IV.,still  continued  under 
his  successor  the  Em- 
peror Wenzel  (a.d.  1378- 
14 10).  The  splendid 
manuscripts  executed  for 
this  patron  are  preserved 
in  the  Vienna  libraries: — 
the  Golden  Bull,  the  Ger- 
man translation  of  the 
Bible  in  six  volumes, pre- 
pared for  Wenzel  by  order 
of  the  wealthy  Martin 
Rotlo  w,  the  copy  of  Wolf- 
ram von  Eschenbach's 
Willehalin,  written  A.D. 
1387,  also  as  a  present 
for  the  Emperor.*^  The 
extreme  wealth  of  de- 
coration in  the  last  two 
works  prevented  their 
completion. 

Here  and  there 
these  works  contain 
some  larger  subjects 
carefully  executed,  as, 
towards  the  end  of  the 
Golden  Bull,  a  figure  of 
Italy  draped  in  gold, 
and  with  bared  bosom 
lamenting  before  the 
judge,  who  sits  cross- 
legged  in  a  scarlet 
mantle  ;  and  in  the 
liihlc,  the  Kmpcror  and 
his    wife    enthroned    in 


Fip.  106. 


3   i> 


386  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

one  of  the  initial  letters,  and  a  Creation  of  Eve,  with  charming  expres- 
sion and  fine  modelling  of  the  nude  figures,  which  are  partly  hidden  by  green 
plants.  The  bright  colours  and  fine  arrangements  of  broken  tones  in  such 
pictures  are  very  enjoyable.  On  the  whole,  however,  a  coarser  provincial 
style  is  perceptible  in  the  majority  of  the  narrative  scenes  ;  they  are  lively,  but 
not  well  understood,  and  the  extremities  are  shapeless  and  weak.  The  back- 
ground, above  the  landscape,  is  still  gilt  or  patterned.  While  the  French  school 
at  this  time  made  more  and  more  progress,  the  great  artistic  revival  at  Prague 
already  began  to  stagnate,  and  in  the  works  produced  there  we  perceive  the 
effects  of  the  calamities  which  broke  upon  Bohemia  with  the  reign  of  Wenzel. 

In  one  point  only  these  works  are  still  as  good  as  ever  ;  that  is,  in  the 
ornaments  and  border  enrichments,  which  unite  the  old  splendour  with  spirited 
flow  and  breadth  of  treatment.  Among  the  coloured  leaf-work,  which  is  on  a 
very  large  scale,  we  find  in  all  these  works  comicalities  of  the  most  curious  kind 
treated  with  great  skill,  and  often  superior  to  the  larger  pictures  ;  they  generally 
have  direct  reference  to  the  royal  owner  of  the  book  (Fig  io6).  Sometimes 
the  Emperor  is  represented  seated  in  the  dress  of  the  day  inside  his  own  initial, 
W,  or  else  in  an  E,  which  refers  to  another  j^erson  in  company  with  whom  he 
often  appears — a  bathing-girl  barefoot  beside  the  tub,  wearing  only  a  chemise. 
More  frequently  Wenzel  sits  in  the  bath,  and  is  waited  on  by  several  bathing - 
girls.  Occasionally,  too,  the  girl  appears  with  nothing  on,  or  only  a  transparent 
veil.  Wild  men,  a  bird  on  a  ribboned  streamer,  are  the  Emperor's  emblems  ; 
bathing  gear,  bathing  tubs,  appear  everywhere.  The  frank  sensuality  which 
appears  in  these  pictures  illustrates  the  character  of  the  Emperor  ;  it  had  long 
been  customary  to  introduce  jests  of  all  kinds,  even  into  religious  books,  but 
nothing  comes  up  to  the  innocent  way  in  which  the  sensual  life  in  which 
Wenzel  delighted  is  here  unfolded  on  the  very  margin  of  his  Bible. 

At  the  close  of  this  period  we  have  a  Missal  belonging  to  Sbinco  Hasen 
von  Hasenburg,  completed  A.D.  1409  by  Laurinus  von  Glattau.  The  initial 
letters  contain  Scripture  motives,  and  are  beautifully  ornamented  with  flourishes, 
leaf-work,  and  little  birds.  In  a  larger  picture  of  the  Crucifixion  with  many 
figures,  a  noble  originality  of  conception  shows  itself,  and  the  expressions  of 
S.  John  and  the  women  are  full  of  deep-felt  beauty.  The  figures  are  very 
slender,  but  the  movements  good,  and  the  colours  very  deep  as  well  as 
luminous.  This  picture  comes  near  the  best  French  work,  while  the  remainder, 
by  another  hand,  are  on  a  very  small  scale,  and  though  neat  and  pleasing,  unim- 
portant and  often  hard  in  colour.^^ 

The  art  of  illuminating  also  flourished  under  the  Court  of  Austria,  and  had 
reached  an  almost  equal  standard  there.  Its  chief  monument  is  the  German  trans- 
lation of  Durandus,  Rationale  divinorutn  officiorum,  written  for  Duke  Albrecht  III. 
of  Austria.  The  paintings,  however,  were  only  finished  later,  as  the  Archduke 
William  {d.  A.D.  1406)  and  his  wife  Johanna  of  Durazzo,  who  came  to  Vienna 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  387 

A.D.  1403,  are  portrayed  at  the  end  of  the  book.'*^  The  ornamentation  is  chiefl\- 
h"mited  to  the  borders  of  the  first  pages  of  the  prefaces  and  of  the  several  books. 
The  two  columns  of  text  are  enclosed  in  leaf-work,  cither  green  or  pink,  with 
half-length  figures  ;  for  instance,  angels  holding  scutcheons.  On  the  stems  of 
the  plants  between  the  columns  angels  glide  up  and  down.  Small  medallions 
in  the  borders,  especially  the  lower  borders,  contain  figure  scenes  which  some- 
times form  a  continuous  design,  as  on  fol.  163,  the  Last  Judgment,  with  which 
are  connected  the  parable  of  the  Sower,  the  Fall,  and  two  scenes  referring  to 
Judgment  and  Redemption.  The  larger  initials  are  generally  blue  in  the  body  of 
the  letter,  and  formed  of  combinations  of  animal  shapes.  They  also  contain  small 
figure  subjects,  as,  on  the  first  page,  the  restoration  of  the  Vienna  University 
by  the  Archduke,  and  the  same  theme  is  continued  in  the  medallions  below. 
A  Last  Supper  in  the  letter  U  is  remarkable  for  an  original  and  natural  con- 
ception of  this  subject.  The  composition  is  crowded,  but  every  feature  is  full 
of  expression  ;  a  gentle  sorrow  breathes  from  the  face  of  Christ  ;  the  Apostles 
as  they  speak  or  eat  are  perfectly  life-like  and  natural  ;  one  in  the  foreground 
wipes  his  knife  on  the  tablecloth.  Wherever  the  Archdukes  appear,  whether 
praying  at  the  altar  with  their  wives,  in  steel  armour  on  horseback,  or  wrapped 
in  the  shroud  and  raised  up  within  their  coffins,  they  always  have  an  individu- 
ality ;  and  the  expressive  treatment  of  the  little  heads  on  quite  a  small  scale 
and  with  fine  flesh  tones  is  just  as  admirable  as  the  elaboration  of  the  accessories 
and  rich  costumes. 

Artistic  perfection  of  this  kind  appears,  indeed,  only  occasionally  in  Germany. 
The  average  work  of  the  time,  as  it  is  represented  in  the  rhymed  History  of 
the  World  at  Stuttgart,  by  Rudolf  von  Hohenem,  is  much  lower.  The  story 
was  generally  clearly  told,  and  the  picture  full  of  life,  but  the  attitudes  are  uncer- 
tain, the  situations  requiring  movement  are  tame,  the  nude  is  poorly  rendered, 
the  faces  grim.  The  execution  aims  at  powerful  modelling  with  strong  lights, 
but  is  destitute  of  charm.  The  great  revival  of  panel-painting  on  the  Lower 
Rhine  only  found  its  echo  later  in  miniature-painting  ;  as,  for  instance,  in  a 
Prayer-book  now  in  Berlin,  written  in  Low  German  for  the  Duchess  Maria 
of  Guelders,  and  completed  A.D.  141  3  by  brother  Ilclmich  at  Marienborn,  near 
Arnheim.  The  border  ornaments  are  uniform,  but  the  small  biblical  scenes,  in 
spite  of  squat  proportions,  large  heads,  restless  draperies,  and  patterned  grounds, 
are  treated  in  an  extremely  lively  and  spirited  manner.*'^ 


CHAPTER   III. 

PAINTINGS    ON    GLASS. 

Painting  an  art  of  popular  appeal  only  as  applied  to  architecture — Increasing  importance  of  painted  windows 
in  the  Gothic  style  :  their  distribution  and  decorative  plan — Examples  ;  Chartres  ;  story  of  the  Prodigal 
Son — General  leaning  towards  the  familiar  and  realistic — Transept  windows  at  Chartres — Windows  in 
other  cathedrals  of  Northern  and  Central  France — Somewhat  inferior  work  in  Southern  France — French 
Switzerland  and  the  Duchy  of  Burgundy — England — Germany — Change  of  style  and  introduction  of 
architectural  forms  into  glass-pictures — Beautiful  examples  in  Cologne  Cathedral — Windows  of  Strass- 
burg  Cathedral^Other  examples  in  various  parts  of  Germany — France  ;  glass  of  this  period  most 
frequent  in  Southern  cathedrals  ;  in  use  also  for  private  houses — Technical  advances  of  glass-painting 
in  the  fourteenth  century— In  the  fifteenth — At  the  Renascence;  glass-painting  violates  its  true  con- 
ditions as  it  becomes  more  elaborate  and  accomplished. 

Inasmuch  as  the  only  miniatures  of  real  artistic  merit  were  those  produced  at 
the  demand  of  Courts,  the  only  kinds  of  painting  which  really  entered  into  the 
life  and  addressed  themselves  to  the  eyes  of  the  people  in  general,  were  those 
dependent  on  architecture  and  applied  to  its  decoration.  Of  the  varieties  of 
the  art  thus  applied,  glass-painting,  since  the  development  of  the  Gothic  style, 
played  the  chief  part,  whereas  in  the  preceding  period  it  had  only  contributed 
side  by  side  with  mural  painting  to  the  total  decorative  result. 

As  soon  as  the  Gothic  or  Pointed  style  had  been  consistently  worked  out, 
the  windows  in  an  edifice  assumed  much  greater  dimensions  and  importance 
than  before.  Instead  of  the  single  narrow  openings,  or  at  most  groups  of 
such,  characteristic  of  the  Romanesque  and  early  Gothic  periods,  we  now  find 
large  windows  filling  almost  the  entire  space  externally  between  the  buttresses 
and  internally  between  the  wall  shafts,  each  divided  inside  by  slender  stone 
mullions,  with  symmetrically  designed  tracery  in  the  arch.  For  windows  of  this 
size,  even  more  than  for  those  of  the  earlier  time,  coloured  glass  was  necessar>' 
to  soften  the  light  and  enliven  the  surfaces.  The  arrangement  of  the  glass 
paintings  within  each  separate  window  is  decided  by  the  architectural  divisions 
of  the  window  itself  Up  in  the  arch,  the  geometrical  spaces  enclosed  by  the 
tracery  are  usually  filled  only  with  an  ornamental  coloured  pattern  or  mosaic. 
The  figure  pieces  are  placed  in  the  spaces  between  the  mullions  ;  they  are  some- 
times large  single  figures  of  saints,  bishops,  and  kings,  filling  the  whole  space, 
and  sometimes  series  of  narrative  pictures  on  a  smaller  scale  set  in  ornamental 
borders,  and  particularly  in  medallions.  Each  compartment  is  now  treated, 
like  the  whole  window  space  in  the  Romanesque  style,  as  a  separate  hanging, 
and  surrounded  with  a  wide  border.      But  besides  this  the  window  must  pro- 


MEDLEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  389 

duce  the  effect  of  a  harmonious  whole  in  colour  and  arrangement.  Lastly, 
seen  from  within,  the  windows  form  a  whole,  not  only  in  their  pictorial 
effect,  but  also  in  the  subjects  they  represent.  The  pictures  from  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments  or  from  various  legends,  the  large  single  figures,  the 
exhibitive  and  symbolical  compositions,  connect  themselves  together  in  one 
great  epic  cycle,  which  shows  forth  the  whole  substance  of  the  Christian  doctrine. 
From  the  west  wall,  from  which  usually  shines  down  a  great  rose-window,  the 
pictures  follow  each  other  in  quiet  sequence  along  the  windows  of  the  side 
aisles,  and  in  the  clerestories  of  the  nave,  between  which  }-et  a  third  row  of 
pictures  may  be  found  when  the  triforium  (or  gallery  carried  in  the  thickness 
of  the  wall  above  the  nave  arcades)  is  pierced  to  the  light.  The  large  end 
windows  of  the  transepts,  too,  afford  space  for  complete  and  separate  composi- 
tions, and  the  whole  finds  at  last  its  climax  and  consummation  in  the  choir 
with  its  girdle  of  chapels. 

A  complete  cycle  of  this  kind  is  not  to  be  found  existing  in  any  one 
cathedral.  But  some  in  France  still  give  a  fair  idea  of  the  original  scheme  ; 
and  above  all  Chartres  with  its  hundred  and  forty-six  windows,  the  greater  part 
of  which  belong  to  the  thirteenth  century.'*''  Although  this  building  is  in  a 
matured  Gothic  style,  it  has  no  traceried  windows  properly  speaking,  but  as  a 
first  step  to  such,  the  windows  are  set  in  pairs,  and  above  each  pair  in  the 
clerestory  is  a  large  round  window.  The  great  rose  window  in  the  west  front 
(over  the  three  older  windows  already  described)  contains  the  Last  Judgment, 
which  it  was  also  customary  to  place  on  the  west  wall  in  mural  paintings, 
The  upper  windows  generally  contain  single  figures.  Prophets,  Apostles,  and 
Saints  ;  the  lower  windows  scenes  from  the  Passion,  the  story  of  Joseph,  the 
legends  of  SS.  James,  Nicholas,  Eustachius,  Stephen,  Thomas  of  Canterbury  (in 
which  Charlemagne  plays  a  part),  and  a  story  of  the  holy  shift  of  the  Virgin  ; 
also  the  .story  of  the  Prodigal  Son,  which  appears  similarly  in  the  cathedrals  of 
Bourges  and  Sens  The  narratives  are  given  in  a  broad,  agreeable,  episodic 
manner,  and  are  pleasing  in  spite  of  the  small  number  of  figures.  The  loose 
life  of  the  Prodigal  is  told  in  a  spirit  like  that  of  the  old  French  fabliaux 
(Fig.  107).  We  see  him  making  love,  playing  draughts  on  a  board  which 
.stands  upright  in  entire  lack  of  perspective,  sitting  at  table  while  dinner  is 
served,  till  his  fair  friends  at  last  have  utterly  ruined  the  youth,  and  turn  him 
out  of  his  bed  into  the  streets.  It  is  all  done  with  the  same  mannered  grace, 
the  same  soft  and  dainty  actions,  that  we  found  in  the  miniature  paintings  of 
the  same  period. 

But  this  decided  inclination  towards  a  faniilar  and  realistic  style  appears 
also  in  other  places.  The  windows  were  not  paid  for  out  of  the  budget  of 
works,  but  were  the  pious  gifts  either  of  individuals  or  corporations.  And 
while  private  persons  were  represented  as  donors,  kneeling  in  the  lower  parts 
of   their    windows,  the    guilds   immortalised   themselves  by    representing    there 


39° 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


o 


tXJ 


the  functions  of  their  craft.  Thus  at  Chartres,  as  well  as  at  Bourges  and 
Amiens,  we  find  builders  and  stone-masons,  carpenters,  joiners,  coopers,  shoe- 
makers, butchers,  and   ropemakers  at  their  work  ;   the  blacksmith  shoes  a  horse, 


MEDL^^VAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  391 

the  grocer  and  money-changer  stand  in  their  shops,  the  Hnen-draper  measures 
out  his  wares  to  a  customer.  Such  scenes  are  as  historically  interesting  as 
from  their  freshness  and  naturalness  they  are  artistically  delightful. 

The  transept  windows  at  Chartres  give  ample  space  for  large  compositions  ; 
in  the  rose  window  of  the  north  transept  the  Madonna  sits  enthroned,  enclosed 
in  three  circles,  with  four  doves  overhead  and  eight  angels,  twelve  Kings,  and 
twelve  Prophets  of  the  Old  Covenant  ;  in  the  south  transept  we  see  the  Saviour 
in  the  attitude  of  blessing,  with  angels,  the  symbols  of  the  Evangelists,  and  the 
four-and-twenty  elders.  The  five  lower  windows  contain,  on  the  north  side 
S.  Anne  among  figures  from  the  Old  Testament,  and  on  the  south  the  Virgin 
between  very  singular  representations  of  the  Evangelists,  riding  on  the  shoulders 
of  the  Prophets. 

The  Cathedral  of  Bourges,  with  its  double  aisles,  and  three  ascending  stages 
of  height  in  outer  aisle,  inner  aisle,  and  nave,  possesses  a  hundred  and  eighty- 
three  windows,  and  in  these  there  still  remains  a  great  quantity  of  thirteenth- 
century  glass.  The  glass-paintings  in  the  Cathedrals  of  Rheims,  Amiens,  Beau- 
vais,  Noyon,  Soissons,  Chalons,  Troyes,  Le  Mans,  Tours,  Sens,  and  Auxerre,  are 
much  less  complete.^"  A  window  of  this  period  with  the  story  of  Joseph,  in 
Rouen  Cathedral,  contains  the  signature  Clemens  Vitreariiis  Carnotensis  J/., 
that  is,  Clement,  master  glass-painter  from  Chartres,  which  place  must  evidently 
have  been  a  chief  centre  of  this  art.  The  windows  of  the  Sa'uite  Chapclle,  or  old 
Royal  Chapel  in  Paris,  are  indeed  restored  throughout,  but  the  remains  of  the  old 
glass  were  used,  and  with  so  much  true  feeling  for  the  original,  that  the  interior 
of  that  beautiful  building  even  now  presents  one  of  the  finest  existing  examples 
of  mediaeval  polychrome  decoration.  Here,  too,  when  the  French  Gothic  had 
reached  its  utmost  perfection  under  Louis  IX.,  the  old  arrangement  of  small 
medallions  on  a  patterned  ground  is  still  maintained.  The  windows  of  Notre 
Dame  in  Paris  fared  worse,  as  their  paintings  were  removed  as  early  as  the 
last  century  at  the  wish  of  the  clergy  ;  only  the  three  large  rose  windows, 
and  especially  those  of  the  transepts,  in  which  the  figures  are  kept  subordinate 
by  an  essentially  decorative  treatment,  still  testify  to  the  ancient  splendour. 
The  rose  window  in  the  north  transept  of  Soissons  is  similar,  but  less  elaborate. 
The  provinces  which  were  really  the  cradle  of  the  Gothic  style — the  Isle  of 
France,  Champagne,  Picardy,  and  after  these  Normandy,  were  also  the  chief 
centres  of  this  branch  of  art. 

P^arther  south  vve  find  schools  whose  productions  are  not  fully  equal  to  those 
hitherto  under  discussion  ;  the  windows  in  .S.  Radegonde  at  Poitiers,  from  the 
time  of  .S.  Louis,  are  not  (^uite  harmonious,  because  of  their  combination  of 
coloured  pictures  with  grisailles.  The  design  of  a  Last  Judgment,  arranged 
between  the  spokes  of  an  upper  wheel-window,  is  remarkable.  Of  a  kindred 
style  arc  the  windows  of  Limoges  Cathedral. 

PVench  Switzerland,  politically  included  in  the  Duchy  of  Burgundy,  derived 


392  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

its  style  from  France  in  glass -painting  as  well  as  in  architecture,  as  may  be 
seen  by  the  rose  window  in  the  south  transept  of  the  Cathedral  at  Lausanne, 
the  only  thing  there  spared  by  the  Reformation.  The  favourite  mediaeval  repre- 
sentations of  Time  and  the  World,  with  which  we  have  become  familiar  in 
miniatures  and  especially  in  mosaic  pavements,  is  here  transferred  to  a  window. 
In  a  circular  design  we  find  the  Months,  the  Signs  of  the  Zodiac,  the  Sun  and 
Moon,  the  Seasons,  the  Rivers  of  Paradise,  the  Winds,  and  the  fabulous  beings 
that  were  supposed  to  inhabit  unknown  quarters  of  the  earth.*^ 

In  England,  the  Cathedrals  of  Salisbury,  Lincoln,  and  York,  are  especially 
famous  for  painted  glass  of  the  Gothic  period. 

Windows  of  pure  thirteenth-century  Gothic  are  not  numerous  in  Germany. 
Those  in  the  choir  of  the  ElisabethkircJie  in  Marburg,  though  restored  from 
fragments,  are  extremely  beautiful.  In  the  Abbey  church  of  Alpirsbach  in  the 
Black  Forest  there  are  still  some  remains  of  the  centre  window  of  the  Gothic 
choir.  Two  compartments  of  a  window  from  the  Abbey  church  of  Wimpfen 
im  Thale  are  particularly  fine.  They  are  now  in  the  museum  at  Darmstadt. 
They  contain  scenes  from  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  placed  opposite  each 
other,  and  also  the  mystical  picture,  taken  from  the  PJiysiologus,  of  the  lion 
bringing  his  young  to  life  by  his  breath.  The  small  choir  windows  with  sacred 
figures  in  the  church  of  S.  Florentius  at  Niederhasslach  in  Alsace,  belong  to 
the  time  before  the  great  fire  of  a.d.  i  287.  Lastly,  some  of  the  windows  of  the 
transept  completed  A.D.  1291  in  the  monastery  of  Klosterneuburg  near  Vienna, 
with  Scriptural  and  symmetrical  scenes,  date  from  the  end  of  this  period.*^ 

With  the  opening  of  the  fourteenth  century  glass-painting  underwent  a 
decisive  transformation  in  style,  which  was  not,  however,  determined  by  any 
technical  change  of  decorative  feeling.  The  Pointed  style,  which  proceeds 
entirely  on  a  constructional  basis,  and  from  construction  develops  all  form,  had 
reached  its  furthest  development  and  carried  out  its  principle  with  complete 
consistency.  As — with  the  exception  of  the  leaf-work  carving,  which,  with  its 
realistic  treatment,  is  not  an  organic  part  but  only  a  decorative  appendage  of  the 
architectural  member  which  it  adorns — as,  with  this  exception,  the  entire  scheme 
of  Gothic  ornament  is  in  fact  only  a  repetition  in  small  of  its  constructive 
architectural  forms,  so  painted  imitations  of  those  forms  by  and  by  assumed  a 
chief  place  in  window  decoration.  While  the  system  of  tapestry-like  patterns 
in  glass  had  lasted,  the  painting  in  the  windows  had  formed  a  pleasant  contrast 
to  their  architectural  divisions,  and  presented  a  quiet  surface  among  the  mul- 
titudinous upward-struggling  lines  and  masses  of  the  general  structure.  This 
arrangement  was  now  abandoned  and  replaced  by  the  habit  of  imitating  archi- 
tectural structures  in  the  painted  glass  itself  The  structures  thus  represented 
in  the  glass-pictures  consisted,  in  the  lower  parts  of  the  window,  of  arcaded  halls 
enclosing  the  several  groups  or  single  figures  (which  for  the  future  were  confined 
in  general  to  this  part  of  the  design)  ;  above  soared  slender  pictured  columns, 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD. 


393 


flying  buttresses,  steep  open-work  gables  and  pinnacles,  and  it  was  only 
behind  all  these  that  the  diaper  was  still  inserted  as  a  groundwork  (Fig.  io8). 
The  dark  sapphire  blue  of  the  old  backgrounds  was  now  commonly  replaced 
by  red. 

No   French   monument  shows  this  style  with   as  much  elegance  and  com- 


Fig.  io8. 

pletencss  as  the  choir  windows  of  Cologne  Cathedral,  placed  there  a.d.  1320.''" 
It  is  true  that  a  diaper  pattern,  treated  in  a  purely  mosaic  style  and  without 
figures,  maintains  itself  in  the  lower  windows  in  the  triforium,  and  partly  even 
in  the  upper  windows,  but  besides  these  the  new  principle  apjxiars  in  its  utmost 
development,  and  offering  a  consistent,  beautiful,  almost  over-wrought  repeti- 
tion of  all  the  forms  employed  in  the  building  itself  Within  these  painted  archi- 
tectural structures  the  lower  arcades  contain  the  Kings  of  Israel,  but  in  the  centre 
window  the  Three  Kings  kneel  before  the  Madonna,  and  in  the  upper  compart- 
ments arc  half-length  figures  from  the  Old  Testament.  Still  more  beautiful  is  the 
Adoration  of  the  Kings  in  another  window.  Here  one  king  only  kneels  before 
the  Virgin,  while  the  others  occupy  separate  niches.  The  attitudes  arc  quiet 
and  noble,  but  not  so  solemn  as  formerly;  the  gentle  inclination  of  the  head  and 
diminished  severity  of  the  chief  motive  betoken  a  change  in  the  artistic  con- 
ception ;   lively  tones,   especially  a  bright   red,  prevail    in   the  draperies,  and   in 

3  li 


394  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

greater  quantity  too,  while  the  shadows  are  only  given  by  a  few  slight  strokes  ; 
the  halls  and  tabernacles  are  wrought  in  yellow,  and  shine  in  the  transmitted  light 
like  gold.  Through  their  openings  appear  backgrounds  of  ever-varying  patterns, 
and  their  summits  are  enriched  with  coloured  statuettes.  The  transoms  of 
the  window  itself  are  often  ignored,  and  quietly  allowed  to  cross  the  principal 
composition,  or  the  central  gable  of  the  painted  building.  But  a  just  decorative 
feeling  keeps  this  building  always  flat,  and  without  any  attempt  at  perspective 
in  the  design.  The  real  limits  of  painting  on  glass  may  indeed  be  exceeded 
here,  but  the  artists  still  move  along  the  new  line  with  a  just  relative  feeling  for 
the  conditions  of  their  art. 

The  Cathedral  of  Strassburg  illustrates  a  similar  tendency  in  most  of  the 
windows  of  its  nave.  These  contain  a  connected  cycle  of  pictures  executed  after 
the  restoration  by  Master  Erwin  consequent  upon  the  great  fire  in  A.D.  1298. 
The  line  of  the  Jewish  kings  was  set  forth  in  the  north  aisle  ;  in  the  clerestory 
of  the  nave  appear  two  rows  of  Martyrs,  female  Saints,  Popes,  Bishops  of  Strass- 
burg, all  stately  figures,  and  often — as  in  the  case  of  King  Charles  of  Provence, 
son  of  the  Emperor  Lothair  (Fig.  109) — showing  already  more  movement  in 
the  attitude  and  in  the  draperies,  with  motives  sometimes  vigorous  if  Gothically 
restless.  The  figures  are  always  placed  under  rich  canopies.  The  smaller  win- 
dows of  the  triforium,  most  of  which  are  restored,  were  filled  with  pictures  of 
the  ancestors  of  Christ.  The  windows  of  the  south  side-aisle  date  from  the 
second  half  of  the  fourteenth  century,  and  no  longer  carry  out  the  old  principle,  as 
they  contain  narrative  scenes  from  the  life  of  the  Virgin  and  Christ  ;  and  with 
these  may  be  classed  one  still  later  in  the  west  end,  in  which  we  find  a  confused 
design  of  the  Last  Judgment  not  very  well  executed.  The  series  of  paintings 
in  the  upper  windows  is  also  interrupted  here  and  there  with  later  work,  such, 
for  instance,  as  the  window  in  two  compartments  with  the  strife  of  Virtues  and 
Vices,  and  a  smaller  and  less  well-preserved  Judgment  of  Solomon,  which  with 
the  windows  of  the  bell-tower,  containing  the  works  of  Mercy  and  the  stories 
from  Genesis,  date  only  from  the  fifteenth  century.  The  Chapel  of  S.  Catherine 
ofif  the  south  aisle,  which  was  consecrated  A.D.  1349,  contains  windows  with 
Apostles  and  holy  Virgins  under  canopies,  which  may  be  looked  upon  as  the 
work  of  Master  Johann  von  Kirchheim,  as  he  appears  in  a  document  of  March 
10,  1348,  as  glass-painter  to  the  minster. 

A  window  from  the  monastery  church  of  Seligenthal  near  Landshut,  now 
in  the  Bavarian  National  Museum  at  Munich,  contains  scenes  from  the  Passion, 
saints,  and  a  figure  of  the  foundress,  the  Princess  Elizabeth  {d.  A.D.  1 3  1 4)  as 
abbess.  The  architectural  framework  is  used  here  with  taste  and  moderation, 
and  the  groundwork  is  a  simple  interchange  of  blue  or  red  behind  the  figures. 
Among  the  finest  works  of  this  period  may  be  counted  the  choir  windows  of 
the  monastery  church  at  Konigsfelden  in  Switzerland,  dating  between  A.D.  1324 
and    135 1,  eight  of  which  are  still   perfectly  preserved.^^      In   most  of  them 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD. 


395 


legendary  scenes,  figures  of  Apostles,  and  other  subjects,  are  still  represented 
in  medallions  after  the  old  fashion,  except 
that  the  tapestry  style  is  not  carried  out 
with  the  purity  and  regularity  of  the  earlier 
time  ;  but  in  others  containing  the  stories  of 
Christ's  childhood  and  of  the  Resurrection,  the 
principle  of  an  architectural  framework  is  here 
also  adopted  (see  Fig.  io8).  These  windows 
differ  somewhat  from  those  at  Cologne  by  a 
more  pictorial  conception  and  a  richer  grace  in 
the  figures.  Sometimes  there  is  an  attempt 
even  to  make  the  architectural  parts  seem  to 
project  a  little  from  the  flat,  and  to  base  upon 
imitation  corbels  the  floor  on  which  the  figures 
stand.  The  effect  of  the  whole  decoration  is 
that  of  a  regular  pattern,  and  the  law  of  rhyth- 
mical interchange  is  preserved  ;  in  windows 
facing  each  other  the  order  of  the  colouring 
is  always  reversed.  An  altogether  different 
principle  prevails  in  the  church  at  Niederhass- 
lach,  where  the  windows  in  the  side-aisle  ex- 
hibit paintings  of  the  life  and  sufferings  of 
Christ,  the  life  of  the  Virgin,  the  mart)'rdoms 
of  the  Apostles,  v^arious  legends,  that  of  S. 
Florentius  among  others,  and  the  strife  of  the 
Virtues  and  Vices.  Here  the  system  of  me- 
dallions is  adhered  to,  not  in  a  uniform  net- 
work, but  arranged  generally  in  a  design  round 
a  larger  central  medallion,  and  extending 
over  more  than  one  compartment  without  any 
regard  to  the  intersecting  mullions.  The  win- 
dows in  the  nave  of  the  minster  at  Freiburg  im 
Breisgau,  in  the  church  of  S.  Catherine  at  Op- 
penheim,  the  Cathedral  of  Ratisbon,  and  also 
the  beautiful  glass-paintings  from  the  same 
place    in    the    Bavarian    National    Museum    at  j.ig,  ,09. 

Munich,  cannot  now  be  mentioned  in  detail. 

In  France,  this  fourteenth-century  glass  is  occasionally  to  be  found  in  the 
Cathedrals  of  Heauvais  and  Evreux,  but  more  frcquentl\-  in  the  larger  catlicdrals 
of  the  south,  in  Limoges,  Narboniic,  Carcassonne.  Glass-painting  at  this  time 
lost  its  distinctively  ecclesiastical   character,  and  was  more  and  nujre  commonly 


used  in  chateaux  and  middle-cl 


class  L 


wcllinLf-housc.'' 


396  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

In  technical  methods  also  progress  was  made  in  the  first  half  of  the 
fourteenth  century.  First  of  all,  another  fusible  pigment  besides  black  lead 
was  discovered  with  which  it  was  possible  to  paint  on  glass, — a  silver  yellow, 
which  is  already  used  to  some  extent  at  Konigsfelden.  Besides  this,  the  way 
to  make  larger  sheets  of  glass  was  now  understood,  so  that  the  mosaic  style 
hitherto  used  could  be  dropped,  on  condition  of  painting  in  grey  monochrome, 
with  strong  shading  and  the  addition  of  yellow.  Examples  of  this  kind  are  to 
be  seen  in  the  windows  of  Chartres  Cathedral,  presented  A.D.  1329  by  a 
Canon  named  Thierry,  and  in  one  in  the  Cathedral  of  Evreux,  with  a  kneel- 
ing figure  of  the  donor.  Bishop  Giefroy,  evidently  Geoffroy  III.,  de  Fae 
(A.D.  1 3  34- 1 340).  But  the  execution  here  is  too  sculpturesque,  and  is  not 
harmonious.°^ 

Still  further  technical  facilities  were  gained  in  the  fifteenth  century,  espe- 
cially by  the  discovery  of  a  third  colour,  a  flesh  tone  which  much  improved  the 
modelling  of  the  heads.  To  this  was  also  added  the  resource  of  overlaying. 
If  it  had  been  long  understood  how  to  lay  a  red  sheet  of  glass  over  a  colourless 
one,  a  much  greater  variety  was  now  attained  by  doubling  glass  plates  of 
different  colours.  The  upper  plate  was  sometimes  scraped  partly  out,  and  the 
hollow  filled  in  with  molten  glass  of  another  colour  ;  and  lastly  the  secret  was 
known  of  fusing  thin  layers  of  different  colours  on  to  the  two  sides  of  a  pane. 

These  technical  advances  corresponded  to  the  more  developed  pictorial 
feeling  of  the  day.  Glass-painters  were  so  much  influenced  by  the  art  of  the 
panel -painters,  that  they  lost  sight  of  the  fact  that  the  object  of  the  two  arts 
was  entirely  different.  They  no  longer  avoided  the  crowding  of  figures  and 
recession  of  planes,  or  the  attempt  at  perspective  in  architectural  designs,  while 
the  old  system  of  ornamental  borders  disappeared  more  and  more.  To  this 
period  belong  the  great  majority  of  glass-paintings  at  present  existing  in  various 
countries.  Glass-painting  thus  took  its  place  amid  the  new  art-life  of  the  six- 
teenth century.  Technical  progress  continued  to  be  made,  the  use  of  the 
diamond  for  cutting  glass  was  learnt,  new  fusible  colours  were  discovered,  and 
the  inventions  and  designs  of  the  artists — among  whom  were  often  masters  of 
the  highest  order — were  skilfully  reproduced.  But  the  feeling  for  the  special 
characteristics  required  by  the  technical  conditions  of  this  art  was  by  this  time 
lost.  In  the  towns  of  German  Switzerland  cabinet-painting  flourished  at  this 
time,  and  produced  for  the  decoration  of  churches,  council-chambers,  or  guild- 
halls, heraldic  pictures  on  glass,  with  sacred  or  profane  figures  as  supporters 
of  scutcheons,  some  of  them  wrought  after  the  designs  of  no  less  a  master  than 
Holbein.  In  Belgium  gigantic  windows  were  produced  exhibiting  complete 
compositions  under  great  classical  colonnades  in  full  perspective,  but  without 
regard  to  the  organic  divisions  of  the  window  itself,  or  to  the  architecture  of  the 
edifice  to  which  it  gives  light ;  as,  for  instance,  those  splendid  pieces  from  the 
design  of  Bernard  von  Orley  in  the  Cathedral  of  S.  Gudule  at  Brussels.     These 


MEDIAEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  397 

compositions  may  be  masterpieces  of  art,  and  their  technical  accomplishment 
may  deserve  all  recognition,  nevertheless  in  them  the  true  sense  of  the  artistic 
style  proper  to  glass-painting  has  disappeared,  and  has  not  yet  been  recovered, 
in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  at  revival  on  which  our  own  age  is  accustomed  to  con- 
gratulate itself. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

PAVEMENTS,  TEXTILE  PRODUCTS,  PAINTINGS  ON  WALL  OR  PANEL. 

Pavements  ;  unimportant  character  of  their  decorations  in  this  age — Mural  Paintings  ;  little  place  for 
them  in  developed  Gothic  style;  scanty  remains  in  France — Encouraged  by  the  Court  in  England; 
existing  remains  inconsiderable — Frequent  but  of  coarse  execution  in  Germany — Character  of  German 
mural  paintings — Examples  from  the  tliirteenth  century — From  the  fourteentli ;  Ramersdorf — Cologne 
— Upper  Rhine  and  German  Switzerland — Fanaticism  and  religious  terror — Personifications  of  Death  in 
painting — Painting  in  private  dwellings  ;  subjects  of  chivalry — Examples  ;  castle  of  Runkelstein  — 
Textile  Products  ;  tapestries  and  painted  cloths  for  secular  use — Tapestries  and  embroideries  for 
Church  use — Paintings  on  Wood  in  General  ;  origin  and  use  of  the  painted  altar-shrine — Technical 
methods  of  painting  on  panel — Examples  rare  before  A.  D.  1350;  more  frequent  afterwards — School 
OF  Prague  ;  foreign  artists  in  employ  of  Charles  IV. — Mosaic  in  Prague  Cathedral — Wall-paintings 
in  Katharinencapelle  and  Monastery  of  S.  Jerome — Question  as  to  their  origin  —  Other  wall-paint- 
ings ;  possibly  the  work  of  Nicolaus  Wurmser  of  Strassburg — Local  School  at  Prague;  paintings 
in  Krenzcapelle ;  their  subjects  and  character  —  Their  authorship;  Magister  Theodoricus — Other 
analogous  works — ScHOOi.  of  Cologne  ;  its  sentimental  and  enthusiastic  spirit  in  contrast  with  the 
austere  spirit  of  the  Prague  school — Afagisier  IVil/iehiiiis — Character  and  sentiment  of  this  School — Its 
correspondence  with  the  religious  mysticism  of  which  Cologne  was  a  centre — Altar-piece  from  church 
of  S.  Clare— Similar  examples  at  Berlin;  Munich;  Nuremberg;  Cologne  Museum — Idyllic  and 
Courtly  Madonnas — Example  at  Frankfort — Remaining  Schools  of  Germany  ;  Westphalia  ;  Swabia 
— Hesse  and  Middle  Rhine — Bavaria^ Example  in  private  possession  at  Vienna — Schools  of  France 
and  the  Netherlands  ;  their  works  of  this  period  rare,  resembling  those  of  the  Lower  Rhine — 
Example  in  the  Museum  at  Dijon. 

I.  Pavements. — Just  in  the  same  proportion  as  glass-painting,  under  the 
supremacy  of  the  Gothic  style,  developed  itself  more  and  more  brilliantly,  and 
played  both  as  to  extent  and  effect  the  chief  part  in  the  coloured  decora- 
tion of  interiors,  so  the  other  decorative  arts  declined.  Mosaic  pavements  gave 
place  to  a  more  modest  method  of  decoration  which  can  hardly  be  regarded  as 
a  fine  art  ;  this  consisted  of  the  impression  of  figures  and  patterns  on  soft  clay, 
filled  in  afterwards  with  coloured  earths.  We  cannot  consider  these  works 
here,  whether  they  were  purely  decorative,  as  the  pavement  in  the  chapter-house 
of  Saint-Pierre-sur-Dive  {Calvados),  or  whether  they  contained  figure-designs 
taken  from  the  old  range  of  subjects,  the  Liberal  Arts,  the  Months,  the  brute 
creation,  as  in  a  side  chapel  of  the  Cathedral  at  Saint  Omer.^* 

II.  Mural  Paintings. — In  the  great  Gothic  buildings,  where  the  whole 
of  the  walls  were  taken  up  by  salient  structural  members,  wall-painting  no 
longer  found  free  space.  A  {ew  remains  of  it  are  still  left  in  France,  such  as 
those  in  the  Cathedral  of  Tournus,  from  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries, 
but  painting  on  the  whole  became  now  chiefly  decorative,  helping  to  enrich  the 


MEDIAEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  399 

interiors  by  adorning  the  shafts,  gilding  the  capitals  and  ribs  of  the  vaulting, 
and  diapering  the  back  walls  of  arcadings. 

In  England  mural  painting  was  warmly  encouraged  by  the  Court  from  the 
time  of  Henry  III.  (a.d.  12 16-1272),  and  much  used  for  the  decoration  of 
chapels,  halls,  and  chambers.^^  Many  authentic  records  and  some  names  of 
artists  are  still  preserved,  but  the  works  themselves  have  for  the  most  part  dis- 
appeared, including  the  Painted  Chamber  in  Westminster  from  the  time  of 
Henry  III.,  as  well  as  the  most  important  work  of  the  fourteenth  century — 
the  painting  in  S.  Stephen's  Chapel  executed  under  Edward  HI.,  between 
A.D.  1 350-1 358.  The  only  idea  we  get  of  these  is  from  accounts  written 
before  their  destruction,  A.D.  1834.  Within  a  painted  architectural  framework 
were  representations  of  angels,  saints,  scenes  from  the  childhood  of  Christ,  the 
stories  of  Job  and  of  Tobias,  and  lastly,  the  whole  royal  family.  The  design 
oscillated  between  the  extremes  of  vehement  action  and  mannered  suavity. 
Among  the  painters  recorded  as  having  taken  part  in  these  works  appear 
foreigners  as  well  as  Englishmen — Italians,  for  example  one  Wilhelnms  Floren- 
tiniis  in  the  thirteenth  centuiy,  and  also  Germans  and  Frenchmen.^*"  The  two 
most  important  existing  paintings  on  panel  produced  in  England  during  the 
fourteenth  century,  are  by  Italian  and  probably  by  Sienese  hands  ; — these  are 
the  great  full-length  portrait  of  Richard  II.  in  the  Deanery  at  Westminster  (the 
overpainting  of  which  has  lately  been  removed),  and  the  Diptych  of  the  same 
king,  in  the  collection  of  the  Earl  of  Pembroke  at  Wilton  House.^*" 

In  Germany  remains  of  wall-painting  are  considerably  more  numerous  than 
in  any  other  country  north  of  the  Alps.  The  coarse  and  broad  handling  ex- 
hibited by  German  painters  at  the  beginning  of  this  period,  even  in  miniature 
work,  is  more  in  place  in  decorative  painting.  Although  the  great  cathedrals 
built  in  the  French  style,  like  that  of  Cologne,  had  scarcely  any  room  left  for 
pictures  except  the  choir-presses,  other  churches,  in  which  the  French  principle 
was  not  so  thoroughly  carried  out,  still  afforded  the  necessary  space  for  them, 
as  for  instance  on  the  unpicrced  lower  walls  of  the  transept,  l^hc  compart- 
ments of  the  vaultings  too  were  commonly  adorned  with  figure  compositions. 
True,  this  was  often  done  in  a  method  which  brought  swift  and  certain  destruc- 
tion upon  the  work,  the  method  of  painting  direct  on  the  wrought  stone  without 
a  plaster  preparation.  They  had  a  better  chance  of  standing  when  they  were 
painted  on  a  wall  of  rough  masonry  coated  with  plaster,  and  the  most  frequent 
remains  are  found  in  small  country  churches,  cloisters,  chapels,  castles,  and 
dwelling-hou.ses. 

The  importance  of  these  works  to  the  general  history  of  art  is  at  best  so 
small,  that  it  may  well  be  left  to  local  research  1<j  go  into  details  about  them. 
The  character  of  solemn  dignity  proper  to  the  Koin.incsiiuc  wall -paintings  dis- 
appeared before  the  tendency  of  the  Gothic  age  to  scnliint'iitality  and  mannerism  ; 
for  the  really  effective  expression  of  sentiment,  at  the  same  time,  the  handling  of 


400 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


these  works  was  too  elementary  and  decorative.  The  tentative  beginnings  of 
realism  which  make  their  appearance  later  in  the  fourteenth  century,  only 
disturb  the  unity  of  the  old  style  without  being  decisive  enough  to  initiate  a 
new.  The  treatment  shows  no  new  ideas,  and  remains  merely  mechanical 
in  its  simple  compositions,  its  systematic  adherence  to  a  single  plane  with  no 
attempt  at  perspective,  its  too  flowing  and  florid  draperies,  its  scanty  modelling, 
and  its  superficial  execution  by  different  hands  after  the  design  of  the  master. 

Remains  from  the  second  half  of  the  thirteenth  century  are  rare.  In  the 
choir  of  the  church  at  Brauweiler  there  are  traces,  above,  of  a  Last  Judgment, 
and  below,  of  a  row  of  kings  holding  scrolls,  pointing  upwards,  and   in  Gothic 


Fig.  I  lo. 


frames.  The  proportions  are  attenuated,  the  attitudes  and  draperies  weak,  and 
the  upward  gestures  marked  by  affectation.  To  the  close  of  this  century 
belong  some  wall-paintings  from  the  cloister  of  Rebdorf,  in  Bavaria,  with  the 
story  of  Daniel  ;  they  have  been  taken  off  the  wall,  and  are  now  preserved, 
transferred  to  panel,  in  the  Bavarian  National  Museum  at  Munich.^^ 

Examples  from  the  fourteenth  century  are  more  numerous.  One  of  great 
interest  which  has  perished,  but  which  we  know  from  adequate  drawings  and 
publications,  was  the  wall  and  ceiling  pictures  of  the  German  church  at  Ramers- 
dorf  in  the  Siebengebirge.  When  the  beautiful  little  chapel  in  the  Transition 
style  had  to  be  remov^ed,  it  was  reconstructed  in  the  cemetery  at  Bonn,  but  the 
pictures  from  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century  could  not  be  saved. 
Fig.  I  lo  represents  a  charming  pair  of  angels  playing  on  instruments  of  music 


MEDL^VAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD. 


401 


from  one  of  the  compartments  in  the  vaulting  of  the  second  bay  from  the  entrance  ; 
Fig.  I  I  I,  a  group  of  the  last  Judgment  from  one  of  the  compartments  of  the 
first  bay.  The  compositions,  never  of  many  figures,  were  without  confusion, 
the  flow  of  the  lines  pure,  the  slenderness  of  the  slightly  bent  figures  unex- 
aggerated,  the  limbs  infirm  but  pleasing  in  movement,  the  draperies  broad,  the 
heads  small  but  of  a  graceful  oval.  They  recalled  contemporary  French  work 
rather  than  the  coarser  style  of  the  German  miniatures.^^ 

The  paintings  in  the  choir  of  Cologne  Cathedral  show  a  still  stronger 
tendency  to  the  effeminate  and  sentimental  style  ;  they  date  probably  from  a.d. 
1322,  soon  after  the  consecration  of  that  part  of  the  building.     The  wall  of  the 


Fig.  III. 


choir  towards  the  nave,  though  only  temporary,  was  nevertheless  decorated  with 
paintings.  It  has  been  removed,  and  the  angels  in  the  spandrils  above  the 
arcades  are  replaced  by  new  ones,  but  there  are  still  remains  of  the  pictures  on 
the  outside  and  inside  of  the  choir-presses,  though  partly  covered  :  there  are 
scenes  from  the  legend  of  .S.  Peter,  Pope  Sylvester,  and  the  Virgin,  in  fine 
Gothic  archings,  and  also  innumerable  comicalities  like  those  in  the  manuscripts, 
on  the  diapered  ground  above  the  arcades  and  underneath  on  the  frieze  with 
inscriptions."** 

Similar  examples  are  frequent  in  the  Upper  Rhineland.  Elsass  offers  many 
such  remains,  in  the  Dominican  church  at  Ciebweiler,  in  the  village  church  of 
Rosenweiler  at  Rosheim,  in  the  transept  of  the  monastery  at  Weissenburg,  where 
are  dc])ictcd    the    Passion    an<l    tlic  Works   of  Mcrc\-.      Here  we  also   find  next 

3  I" 


40  2  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

the  choir  the  gigantic  figure  of  S.  Christopher,  a  representation  very  common 
at  this  time,  in  consequence  of  the  popular  belief  that  to  see  an  image  of  this 
saint  was  to  be  safe  for  that  day  from  sudden  and  shriftless  death.  The  crypt 
of  the  Cathedral  at  Basel  contains  in  the  vaulting  the  story  of  the  Virgin,  of  the 
childhood  of  Christ,  and  legendary  representations.  The  church  at  Cappel  in 
Switzerland  has  in  the  two  chapels  at  the  side  of  the  choir  a  frieze  with  single 
figures  of  saints  interrupted  in  one  place  by  the  crucified  Christ  between  Mary 
and  John.  The  largest  and  best-preserved  cycle  of  wall-paintings  in  Switzer- 
land is  that  discovered  in  1877  in  the  church  at  Oberwinterthur.  It  may  be 
dated  about  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century.  The  whole  of  the  nave  was 
painted,  even  the  soffits  of  the  archivolts  were  decorated,  partly  with  ornamental 
patterns,  and  parth'  with  small  figures  of  saints.  The  pictures  fall  into  three 
classes  :  single  figures  of  saints  under  canopies  in  the  spandrils  of  the  arcades  ; 
above  these,  at  either  side,  a  long  band  with  pictures  from  the  legend  of  the 
patron  S.  Arbogast  and  from  the  childhood  of  Christ,  on  grounds  alternately 
of  blue  and  red  ;  up  above,  between  the  windows,  life-sized  figures  of  the 
Apostles,  and  opposite  to  them  holy  women  and  virgins,  all  roughly  executed, 
but  agreeable,  and  true  to  nature  in  the  features.*^^  Other  provinces  of  Germany, 
including  especially  Swabia,  Bavaria,  and  Bohemia,  furnish  examples,  more  or 
less  interesting,  of  similar  decoration,^^ 

Religious  sentiment,  like  chivalrous  usage,  in  the  fourteenth  century  assumed 
extravagant  forms.  A  luxurious  and  pleasure-loving  generation,  scared  again 
and  again  out  of  their  sensual  riot  by  war  and  rapine,  famine  and  pestilence, 
saw  in  the  visitations  that  afflicted  them  the  avenging  hand  of  God,  and  were 
driven  into  a  gloomy  asceticism.  The  terrified  soul  sought  salvation  in  self- 
abasement  ;  religious  passion  rose  to  fever  height,  and  vented  itself  in  the 
raving  fanaticism  of  wandering  flagellants  and  maniac  dancers.  The  idea  of 
the  transitoriness  of  this  world  and  the  vanity  of  earthly  things  overmastered 
the  spirits  of  men.  The  terrors  of  death,  the  hourly  threatening  of  the  inexor- 
able foe,  became  favourite  subjects  of  poetry,  and  from  poetry  passed,  as  the 
fables  of  the  beasts  or  the  tales  of  chivalry  had  passed  long  ago,  into  painting.^^ 

The  personification  of  Death  had  long  existed  in  the  poetry  and  the  imagina- 
tion of  the  people.  He  appears  as  a  powerful  demon  whom  God  has  set  ov^er 
everything  that  lives  ;  as  a  king  going  forth  armed  and  collecting  his  hosts  ;  as 
a  reaper  of  the  fields  ;  as  an  officer  summoning  the  people  to  his  seat  of  judg- 
ment. At  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century  this  conception  was  again  brought 
out  in  an  impressive  form  in  a  German  prose  work,  "  Dei'  Aikerniann  ans  BoJieini  " 
(a.D.  1399).  Death  here  appears  as  a  lord  who  in  speaking  uses  the  royal 
"we"  in  the  first  person,  and  answers  those  who  question  him  with  a  refined 
irony,  seeming  to  dommate  mankind  like  fate.  He  says  in  one  place  that  he 
may  be  seen  figured  on  a  wall-painting  in  Rome  as  riding  on  an  ox.  Mean- 
while  his   customary  personifications  in   literature  and  art  had  adopted  another 


MEDLEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  403 

form.  Instead  of  one,  a  number  of  Deaths  now  appear  face  to  face  with  the 
living  in  their  own  likeness.  The  French  poem  called  "  Les  dis  des  trois  morts 
et  trois  vifs"  dates  from  the  thirteenth  century.  The  dead  appear  to  the  living 
to  tell  them  that  "  what  }-e  are,  that  were  \\e  ;  what  we  are,  ye  shall  be,"  and  to 
this  is  joined  the  pious  warning  of  the  vanity  of  all  earthly  things.  This 
subject  appears  in  wall-paintings  of  the  fourteenth  century,  as  at  Ditchingham 
and  Hastings  in  England,  and  in  Germany  in  the  interior  of  the  church  at 
Badenweiler.*"^  In  this  last  case  the  other  parts  of  the  wall  were  decorated  with 
religious  pictures,  while  this  subject  occupied  the  north  wall  ;  it  was  painted  on 
a  monochrome  ground,  and  with  motives  of  extreme  simplicity.  The  Three 
Kings  seem  to  hold  themselves,  in  the  words  of  Dr.  Liibke,  who  discovered  the 
series,  slightly  averted  from  the  corpses  opposite  to  them.  The  characteristics 
of  the  fourteenth  century  are  distinctly  seen — the  gentle  timorous  heads,  the 
soft  movements  and  flowing  draperies,  as  well  as  the  rich  contemporary  costume, 
with  the  fashion  of  parti -coloured  clothes.  A  representation  of  the  same 
subject  appears  in  the  principal  church  at  Zalt-Bommel  in  Guelders,  in  which 
tlie  corpses  appear  crowned,  and  the  living  men  are  on  horseback  with  followers. 
Pictures  of  the  Dance,  properly  so-called,  of  Death,  are  not  to  be  found  till 
later. 

But  side  by  side  with  all  this  gloom  and  depression  there  continually  broke 
forth  also  a  spirit  of  courage  and  the  pride  of  life,  of  careless  luxury  and 
sensuous  festivity.  In  this  respect  a  special  interest  attaches,  just  as  to  the 
illuminations  in  manuscript  poems  of  chivalry,  so  also  to  the  decorations  on 
walls  of  knightly  dwellings  and  castles,  and  of  patrician  residences  in  the  towns. 
In  these  the  walls  were  never  left  without  paintings,  unless  costly  tapestries  were 
preferred  ;  the  subjects  too  were  chosen  from  a  special  cycle.  From  the  works 
of  Chaucer  we  find  that  in  England,  where  this  decoration  was  also  customary  for 
castles,  there  was  not  a  lady  who  had  not  pictures  of  knights  and  hawks  and 
hounds  on  her  walls,  and  in  the  poem  called  "  The  Assemble  of  Sanies"  pictures 
are  mentioned  of  heroes  and  heroines  from  antiquity,  as  well  as  from  the  love- 
tale  of  Tristram  and  Isoult. 

Remains  of  such  paintings  inspired  by  poems  of  chivalry  are  to  be  found 
in  the  EJiinger  Hof,  a  patrician  house  at  Ulm.  Others  in  houses  at  Constance 
and  Wintcrthur  have  perished,  and  are  only  known  through  copies  and  descrip- 
tions. The  wall-paintings  in  the  castle  of  Runkclstein,  near  Botzen  still  exist, 
though  in  a  dilapidated  state  ;  they  probably  belong  to  the  time  when  the  castle 
was  rebuilt  on  passing  into  the  possession  of  the  brothers  Vintler,  A.D.  1391 
One  of  the  rooms  shows  lords  and  ladies  of  the  Court  playing  at  ball  and 
dancing.  In  another  sit  or  stand,  always  in  groups  of  three,  the  three  heathen 
heroes.  Hector,  Alexander,  Csesar ;  the  three  Hebrew  heroes,  Joshua,  David, 
Judas  Maccaba^us  ;  the  three  best  Christian  kings,  Arthur,  Charlemagne,  Godfrey 
of  Bouillon  ;   the  three  best  knights,  Percival,  Gawainc,  Swcin  ;   the  three  noblest 


404  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

pairs  of  lovers,  William  of  Austria  and  Aglei,  Tristram  and  Isoult,  William  of 
Orleans  and  Amelei  ;  then  the  three  best  swords  in  the  hands  of  the  warriors 
who  wielded  them — Dietrich  of  ]5erne  with  the  sword  Sachs,  Siegfried  with  the 
sword  Balmung,  Ditlieb  of  Steier  with  the  sword  Welsung  ;  the  three  strongest 
giants,  Asperan,  Otnit,  Struthan  ;  the  three  hugest  women,  Hilde,  Vodelgart, 
and  Frau  Rachin,  But  better  than  all  the  rest  are  the  pictures  in  another 
room  from  the  Tristan  of  Gottfried  of  Strassburg,  painted  in  a  green  monochrome 
with  white  lights — rich  groups  connected  unrestrainedly  together  by  slight 
indications  of  scenery  and  buildings  ;  the  treatment,  however,  is  somewhat  care- 
less and  uncertain.  The  Imperial  portraits  in  the  lower  arbour  were  in  the 
same  style,  but  they  are  scarcely  recognisable  now.  Last  comes,  in  yet  another 
room,  a  cycle  of  pictures  from  the  poem  of  Garel  in  the  flozuery  valley.  A 
generation  fancy-fed  with  poetry  and  familiar  with  its  images  loved  to  have 
those  images  daily  in  visible  shape  before  its  eyes,  and  to  adorn  its  homes  with 
figures  of  knightly  life  and  prowess,  of  love  and  war,  pastime  and  merriment,^° 

III.  Textile  Products. — Similar  subjects  are  treated  in  textile  art  also. 
Fourteenth-century  tapestries  of  Lower  German  work,  with  subjects  from  the 
poem  of  Tristaji,  are  preserved  in  the  cathedral  of  Erfurt  and  in  the  monastery 
of  Wienhausen  (Hanover).  A  large  series  of  tapestries  embroidered  in  coloured 
wools  on  linen  is  in  the  Town-hall  at  Ratisbon.  One  set  contains  love-scenes 
in  medallions  on  a  red  ground  worked  with  fantastic  animals  ;  the  customary 
pair  out  hunting,  the  knight  and  lady  exchanging  rings  and  hearts  ;  the  Lady 
Minne  {i.e.  chivalrous  Love)  shooting  her  darts  at  the  lover,  or  pulling  him  by 
the  hair  ;  the  detected  rendezvous  of  Tristram  and  Isoult.^*'  Another  tapestry 
represents  the  castle  of  the  Virtues,  against  which  ride  Vices  mounted  on  various 
animals.  Another  favourite  subject,  of  which  an  example  is  preserved  in  the 
Germanic  Museum  at  Nuremberg,  was  the  storm  on  the  Minneburg.  Paintings 
on  linen  in  water-colour  mixed  with  lime  were  often  used  as  a  substitute  for 
tapestry,  but  the  slightness  of  the  method  prevented  them  from  being  durable. 

Embroideries  for  church  purposes  in  the  fourteenth  century  are  generally  of 
greater  merit  as  works  of  art.  Many  of  these  show,  besides  the  most  careful 
execution  in  flat  stitch,  a  more  marked  pictorial  treatment,  which  succeeds  in 
giving  delicate  gradations  of  tone  and  telling  shadows,  so  that  the  general 
impression  recalls  the  miniatures  of  the  same  period.  An  antependiiun  or 
altar-hanging  in  the  Cathedral  Treasury  at  Salzburg,  with  twenty  illustrations 
from  the  Gospels  and  busts  of  Prophets  in  compartments  at  the  side,  is  of 
especial  importance.  In  a  similar  altar-hanging,  from  the  town  church  at 
Pirna,  now  in  the  Museum  of  National  Antiquities  at  Dresden,  the  Crowning  of 
the  Virgin  and  ten  figures  of  saints  standing  under  slender  Gothic  arcades  are 
worked  on  a  patterned  ground  with  a  tenderness  in  the  motives  and  sweetness 
in  the  expressions  not  surpassed  by  the  best  work  of  the  age.^" 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  405 

IV.  Paintings  on  Wood  in  General.^ — Meanwhile  the  art  of  painting 
on  wood,  which  responded  to  the  demands  of  the  time  by  permitting  higher 
finish  and  subtler  expression  in  the  heads,  had  been  steadily  carried  farther. 
Besides  objects  of  mere  trade  manufacture,  as  painted  shields,  banners,  furniture, 
which  were  works  of  carpentry  in  the  first  instance,  but  were  often  handed  on 
to  be  finished  by  painters  who  happened  to  find  themselves  in  the  service  of 
princes, — besides  these,  painted  altar-pieces  on  wood  came,  about  A.D.  1350, 
much  more  into  request  than  formerly  for  churches.  The  altar  had  originally 
been  nothing  more  than  a  stone  table  {mensa)  screened  in  front  with  antependia, 
and  often  surmounted  by  a  canopy  {ciboTiuni).  Later,  as  the  setting  up  of 
precious  reliquaries  on  altars  became  more  general,  a  shrine  of  moderate  height 
was  added  at  the  back  of  the  altar  to  protect  and  carry  such  objects.  An 
addition  of  this  kind  could  be  moveable  and  made  of  precious  metals,  or  archi- 
tecturally fixed  and  made  of  stone  ;  or  lastly,  as  a  substitute  for  the  former 
style,  made  of  wood  and  painted, — in  which  case  it  consisted  of  a  number  of 
panels  let  into  an  architectural  frame,  and  forming,  if  in  three  parts,  a  triptych, 
if  in  five,  a  pentaptych.  Sometimes  the  wings  were  made  to  move  on  hinges 
so  as  to  shut  over  the  centre  panel  and  protect  it.  The  treatment  of  these 
works,  which  were  painted  within  their  gilt  frames  on  a  gold  ground,  is  different 
from  that  of  wall-paintings,  in  which  the  blue  ground  still  prevailed,  and  shows 
that  the  precedent  from  which  they  were  developed  was  that  of  goldsmith's  work 
with  enamel  figures.  One  of  the  earliest  and  finest  examples  of  these  altar 
shrines  is  that  in  Westminster  Abbey  ;  it  formerly,  no  doubt,  occupied  a  place 
on  the  high  altar,  but  it  is  now  in  the  south  aisle  and  half  destroyed.  It 
corresponds  entirely  with  the  French  works  of  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  and  consists  of  a  rich  wood  panelling,  in  several  compartments,  adorned 
with  carving  and  gilding  as  well  as  with  paintings  on  a  surface  of  linen 
fastened  to  the  panel  ;  the  figures  of  Christ,  Mary,  the  Apostle  John,  Peter  and 
Paul,  are  represented  under  Gothic  arcades,  and  different  scenes  from  the  Gospels 
in  smaller  star-shaped  fields.*'*^  At  the  same  period  the  tendency  to  pious  dona- 
tions increased  both  among  private  individuals  and  corporations.  Besides  the 
high  altar,  decorations  were  bestowed  upon  the  numerous  altars  of  the  side 
chapels  ;  at  the  same  time  votive  pictures  on  .separate  panels  were  introduced 
into  the  churches  for  the  purpose  of  being  placed  over  family  tombs.  Lastly, 
in  a  simpler  way,  the  church  furniture  too  was  painted.  A  beautiful  example 
is  a  press,  dated  a.D.  1300,  in  the  .sacristy  of  Noyon  Cathedral;  outside  arc 
figures  of  saints  on  a  coloured  diaper,  and  inside,  on  the  hacks  of  the  doors, 
figures  of  angels.*'*'  We  shall  find  the  same  custom  in  Ilal}-  also.  There  was 
but  one  step  from  this  to  the  decoration  with  paintings  of  the  whole  j)anelling 
of  a  chamber,  such  as  we  shall  presently  find  in  tiie  castle  of  Karlstein.  On 
the  other  hand,  cascl-[)icturcs  as  we  are  accustomed  to  them,  capable  of  being 
hung  at  will  upon  the  walls,  were  unknown  throughout  the  Middle  Age. 


4o6  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

The  wood  panels  were  covered  with  a  carefully-prepared  chalk  ground,  often 
laid  on  a  linen  backing.  The  vehicle  used  for  the  colours  was  not  oil  ;  that 
medium  was  known,  indeed,  but  from  its  slowness  in  drying  was  chiefly  used 
for  house-painting.  The  word  distemper,  tempera,  properly  means  any  vehicle 
used  in  tempering  or  mixing  the  pigments  ;  and  tempera-painting  was  in  fact 
executed  in  various  ways.  In  Italy  the  colours  were  mixed  with  white  of  egg 
and  the  milk  of  figs  ;  north  of  the  Alps,  where  figs  were  not  to  be  had,  after 
the  colours  had  first  been  rubbed  with  lime-water,  painters  generally  used  white 
of  ^^g^  and  honey,  which  latter  had  the  advantage  of  preventing  the  work  from 
drying  too  quickly  ;  sometimes  also  adding  a  little  wine  or  beer.  This  method 
rendered  possible  a  liquid  and  softly-gradated  handling,  and  though  the  Italian 
variety  of  tempera  allowed  greater  depth  in  the  shadows,  the  northern  gave  on 
the  whole  greater  brightness,  and  was  luminous  enough  to  keep  its  full  effect 
even  on  the  brilliant  gold  ground.  Lastly,  this  luminousness  was  heightened 
by  a  protecting  varnish.  Different  schools  and  workshops  had  at  the  same 
time  their  private  methods,  which  they  kept  to  themselves  ;  recipes  were  com- 
mitted to  writing  and  handed  down  as  valuable  property."'' 

At  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century  panel-pictures  are  still  tolerably 
rare  in  the  North  of  Europe.  Besides  those  already  noticed,  we  may  mention  an 
admirable  little  picture  in  the  Berlin  Museum,  which,  from  the  traces  of  painting 
on  the  back,  seems  to  have  once  belonged  to  the  folding  doors  of  an  altar-shrine. 
Mary  and  Joseph  are  represented  talking  to  each  other  on  a  seat,  surrounded  by 
angels  making  music  ;  the  deprecating  gestures  show  that  he  is  excusing  himself 
for  his  hasty  mistrust  of  her.  Upon  the  gold  ground  behind  them  rises  a  rich 
Gothic  structure  in  stone.  From  the  middle  of  the  century,  however,  works  of 
this  kind  grow  more  numerous,  and  it  accordingly  becomes  more  practicable 
than  heretofore  to  distinguish  local  schools  and  to  determine  their  characteristics. 

V.  School  of  Prague. — In  Germany  this  is  the  school  which  must  be 
placed  first  in  chronological  order.  At  the  capital  of  Charles  IV.  the  arts  of 
painting  on  wall  and  panel  yielded  not  less  praiseworthy  results  than  that  of 
miniature-painting.  A  guild  of  painters  was  founded  here  A.D.  i  348,  the  original 
statutes  of  which  are  written  in  German.'^^  But  Charles  IV.  had  artists  of  other 
nations  also  in  his  service,  as  the  Italian  Thomas  of  Modena,  whose  signature, 
Thomas  de  Mutina,  occurs  on  a  couple  of  pictures  painted  for  the  Castle  of 
Karlstein,  where  one  still  remains,  the  other  being  in  the  Vienna  Gallery  ;  from 
the  introduction  of  S.  Wenzel  in  one  of  these  pictures  it  is  clear  that  they  were 
painted  in  Bohemia. 

Another  production  of  foreign  artists  is  the  great  mosaic  over  the  south 
transept  entrance  of  Prague  Cathedral.  This  work  was  completed  A.D.  i  3  7  i ,  and 
is  badly  preserved,  and  dulled  by  a  coating  of  varnish.  It  contains  repre- 
sentations of  the  Last  Judgment,  and   below  it  six  patron  Saints  of  Bohemia, 


MEDL^VAL  PALNTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  407 

as  well  as  the  Emperor  and  his  fourth  wife.  This  work  was  something 
unusual,  as  may  be  inferred  from  the  expressions  used  bj^  the  chronicler 
Benesch  of  Weitmiil.  He  considered  the  manner  of  the  work  to  be  Greek  {de 
opero  vitreo  more  grcecd),  and  the  Emperor  had  evidently  brought  artists  from 
Italy  to  execute  it,  perhaps  from  Venice,  since  there  a  colony  of  Greek  mosaic- 
workers  still  existed.  Except  in  this  instance  mosaics  of  this  period  are  found, 
on  this  side  of  the  Alps,  exclusively  in  the  old  Prussia  of  the  Teutonic  Order  ; 
for  example,  in  the  royal  chapel  at  Marienburg,  a  figure  in  relief  of  the  Virgin 
with  mosaic  ornament,  and  the  picture  of  the  martyrdom  of  John  the  Evangelist 
on  the  outside  of  the  Cathedral  at  Marienwerder,  dating  from  A.D.  1380.  The 
roughness  of  the  execution  makes  it  impossible  to  tell  whether  the  designs 
are  by  a  foreign  of  a  native  master.  These  isolated  appearances  of  a 
handicraft  indigenous  to  the  south  seem  at  any  rate  to  have  had  no  further 
influence. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  wall-painting  of  the  Madonna  and  Child,  with 
the  Emperor  and  Empress  kneeling  at  her  side,  in  the  KatJiatiiiejicapelle  of  the 
Castle  of  Karlstein,  is  undoubtedly  Italian  in  character.  The  same  may  be  said, 
with  some  limitations,  of  the  great  cycle  of  wall-pictures  in  the  cloister  of  the 
Slav  Monastery  of  S.  Emaus  or  Hieronymus  {Jerome)  founded  by  Charles 
IV.,  and  consecrated  A.D  1372.''  The  twenty-six  wall-spaces  on  the  four 
sides  set  forth  the  scheme  of  Christian  doctrine  after  the  manner  of  the 
Biblia  panpenim.  To  each  scene  from  the  life  of  Christ  there  are  generally 
two  scenes  from  the  Old  Testament,  standing  to  it  in  the  relation  of  type 
to  antitype  ;  thus,  as  types  of  the  Annunciation  we  have  Moses  beside  the 
burning  bush,  and  Gideon  with  the  fleece  ;  of  the  birth  of  Christ,  Jesse  and 
Aaron  with  budding  rods.  In  the  twenty-fourth  field  the  wall-space  is  not 
divided  into  compartments,  but  occupied  by  a  picture  of  an  elaborate  archi- 
tectural structure,  which  serves  as  the  scene  of  the  actions  represented,  and  in 
some  degree  resembles  the  stage  of  several  stories  actually  used  in  mediaeval 
mystery  plays.  In  the  centre  Christ  is  rising  from  Limbus,  followed  by  the 
patriarchs  ;  on  the  right  in  the  landscape  are  visible  the  crosses  on  Golgotha, 
two  of  them  without  figures,  and  the  third  with  the  thief  still  hanging  upon  it. 
On  the  left,  seen  through  a  porch  of  the  structure,  are  Adam  and  Eve  driven 
out  of  Paradise.  At  the  top  God  the  Father  is  represented  receiving  Abraham. 
These  and  the  two  pictures  next  to  them  on  the  south  wall  are  in  the  best  state 
of  preservation.  On  the  twenty-fifth  field  the  Virgin  appears  with  the  Child 
between  two  angels  crushing  the  head  of  the  serpent.  Below  as  types  are 
David  with  the  head  of  Goliath,  and  Judith  with  the  head  of  Ilolofernes.  The 
latter  sits  solemnly  on  a  throne,  surrounded  by  noble  female  figures.  The 
scene  in  the  twenty-sixth  field  is  also  a  connected  composition,  and  rivals  the 
last  in  dignity  of  design.  On  one  side  is  the  Sibyl  enthroned,  and  on  the  other 
the    l^mperor  Octavius  ;   between    them    stands  the   Temple  of  I'eace,  a   Gothic 


4o8  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

church  resembling  the  Cathedral  of  Prague,  and  above  them  appears  the  Virgin 
on  the  crescent ;  to  her  the  Sibyl  is  pointing. 

Schnaase  thinks  that  signs  of  Italian  art,  perhaps  of  the  school  of  Giotto,  are 
to  be  found  in  -these  pictures  ;  the  treatment  of  the  drapery  upon  which  he  bases 
his  opinion  shows,  however,  nothing  of  the  massive  design  of  Giotto,  but  is  soft, 
flowing,  and  full  of  sweep  ;  the  faces  have  nothing  of  Giotto's  angular  structure, 
but  are  of  a  full  oval,  the  tender  spiritual  expression,  and  the  narrow  but  well- 
cut  eyes  alone  recall  Italian,  and  particularly  Sienese,  style,  as  do  the  same 
characteristics  in  the  above-mentioned  Madonna  in  the  KatJiarinencapelle.  The 
writer  to  whom  we  have  referred  is  at  all  events  right  \\hen  he  says  that  with 
the  Italian  elements  there  are  certainly  mixed  others.  The  painted  architecture^ 
in  which  we  can  detect  reproductions  of  German  Gothic  buildings,  can  scarcely 
be  the  work  of  an  Italian. 

Charles  IV.  also  employed  German  artists  from  a  distance.  Two  records 
of  A.D.  1359  and  I  360  refer  to  the  painter  and  favourite  of  the  emperor.  Master 
Nicolaus,  called  Wurmser  of  Strassburg.  The  first  confers  on  Master  Nicolaus 
the  right  of  making  a  will,  which  foreigners  could  onl)'  do  by  special  privilege  ; 
the  second  grants  him  a  house  in  the  village  of  Mortschin,  near  Karlstein,  free 
of  taxes.  As  his  "  paintings  in  castles  "  are  mentioned  in  the  first  document,"^ 
it  may  be  presumed,  especially  as  his  home  was  near,  that  he  was  employed 
in  this  very  castle  of  Karlstein  in  the  Beraunthal,  which  the  Emperor  had 
caused  to  be  built  A.D.  1348.  We  cannot,  for  want  of  positive  proofs,  attribute 
any  particular  work  to  his  hand  ;  but  it  happens  that  the  lower  church  at 
Karlstein,  dedicated  to  the  Virgin,  and  consecrated  A.D.  1357,  contains  a  series 
of  wall-pictures  showing  neither  the  distinctive  marks  of  the  Prague  school, 
with  which  we  shall  presently  acquaint  ourselves,  nor  yet  the  Italian  character, 
but  corresponding  completely  in  invention  and  handling  to  the  customary 
German  mural  paintings  of  the  fourteenth  centur}^  Along  one  wall  of  the 
nave  and  half  of  the  adjacent  cross-wall  as  far  as  the  altar,  there  are  still  partly 
visible,  under  coarse  re-paintings,  representations  from  the  Apocalypse  above  a 
painted  arcade  with  hangings,  as  the  Woman  of  the  Apocalypse  with  the  crown 
of  stars,  threatened  by  the  seven-headed  beast,  and  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
nave  a  figure  of  the  Virgin  in  white  robes  with  a  blue  mantle  ;  in  her  arms  is 
the  Child  wearing  a  little  red  frock  and  grasping  at  her  hand.  This  last  picture 
can  be  seen  more  distinctly  than  the  rest,  and  shows  slender  proportions  in  the 
figures,  soft  flowing  draperies,  pure  gentle  expressions,  with  a  clear  and  light 
tone  of  colouring.  Several  other  panel-pictures  in  Bohemia  are  also  allied  to 
these  in  character."* 

Meanwhile,  however,  there  grew  up  at  Prague  a  new  school  having  peculiar 
and  trenchant  features  of  its  own.  This  school  of  Prague  properly  so-called 
comes  before  us  most  distinctly  in  the  Kreuzcapelle  in  the  Bergfried  of  the  Castle 
of  Karlstein,  built  to  contain  the  State  jewels,  and  consecrated  A.D,  1365.     The 


MEDIAEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  409 

chapel,  consisting  of  two  vaulted  bays  partitioned  off,  contains,  above  a  course 
of  Bohemian  jewels  set  in  a  gilt  plaster  moulding,  one  hundred  and  thirty-three 
paintings  on  wood  in  two  and  three  tiers,  forming  a  continuous  panelling  on  all 
the  walls  ;  half-lengths,  above  life  size,  of  Apostles,  Evangelists,  Fathers  of  the 
Church,  and  male  and  female  saints.  The  picture  which  served  as  the  main 
altar-piece  was  rather  larger,  and  represented  Christ  on  the  Cross  between  Mary 
and  John;  the  predella  showed  the  Man  of  Sorrows  in  the  grave  between 
angels  and  holy  women.  The  crucified  Christ  and  the  two  Fathers,  Ambrose 
and  Augustine,  are  in  the  Vienna  gallery,"'^  the  rest  in  their  original  positions. 
In  the  central  picture  the  figures  arc  poor,  and  the  Christ  rather  old  and  rude 
in  t\-pe,  with  coarse  hands  and  feet,  and  painful  contortions  of  the  limbs.  Mary 
draped  from  head  to  foot  in  a  blue  cloak,  raises  her  clasped  hands.  John,  in  a 
green  cloak  with  red  lining,  has  a  book  in  the  left  hand,  and  leans  his  head 
upon  the  right.  The  expression  of  grief  is  powerful  and  impressive  without 
sentimentality,  the  cast  of  drapery  quiet ;  the  ground  is  simple  grey,  and  every 
figure  has  a  large  gold  nimbus.  The  half-lengths  are  finer.  The  heads  and 
faces  are  full  and  round  in  shape,  the  noses  not  pointed  but  large  and  broad, 
the  cheek-bones  very  strongly  marked,  the  eyes  large  and  quiet,  the  corners  of 
the  mouth  very  much  drawn  down,  which  stamps  the  face  with  a  severe  and 
almost  mournful  expression.  The  hands  are  not  quite  understood  in  form,  but 
they  are  plump,  not  long  and  delicate  after  the  Late  Gothic  manner.  Beside 
the  grandiose  character  of  the  men,  the  gentle  nobility  of  the  women,  like 
Ladmilla  and  Ursula,  produces  a  very  agreeable  effect.  The  attitudes  are 
often  significant,  as  in  the  case  of  Augustine,  who  holds  his  pen  to  his  lips 
as  if  getting  a  thought  into  shape  (Fig.  i  i  2).  All  the  details,  the  costumes, 
writing-desks,  and  so  forth,  are  carefully  treated.  The  motives  of  the  drapery 
are  full  and  round,  their  colours  harmonious,  softly  broken,  and  well  accom- 
modated to  the  gold  ground.  The  execution  is  skilful,  the  flesh  parts  being 
modelled  with  delicate  grey  shadows.  Higher  up,  the  heads  of  the  deeply- 
recessed  window-openings  contain  wall-paintings  of  the  same  kind,  scenes  from 
the  childhood  of  Christ  and  from  the  Apocalypse,  which  show  b\'  the  life  and 
vigour  of  the  designs  that  the  master  understood  also  how  to  represent  action. 
This  is  best  seen  perhaps  in  the  Adoration  of  the  Magi,  in  which  the  undraped 
Child  is  very  happy.      For  the  rest,  these  wall-paintings  have  suffered  much. 

In  this  ca.se  the  only  name  of  a  painter  known  to  us  is  that  of  Master 
Dietrich  {Tlieodoricus).  Two  years  after  the  consecration  of  the  Krcuzcapclle, 
Charles  IV.,  in  a  document  dated  April  29,  1367,  granted  to  his  loving  liege, 
painter  and  member  of  the  household  Master  Dietrich,  exemption  from  taxes 
for  his  house  in  the  village  of  Mortschin  near  Karlstein,  in  consideration  of  the 
cunning  and  devout  works  with  which  he  has  beautified  the  r()}'al  chapel  at 
Karlstein.""  In  the  books  of  the  painters'  guild  the  admission  of  Master 
Dietrich  is   also    recorded  ;    from    his    name    he    woukl    appear   to    have    been    a 


4IO 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


German,  and    as    no   special    mention    of  his    birthplace   follows  the  entry,  it  is 
probable  that  he  was  a  native  of  Prague. 

The  school  which  comes  before  us  here  with  its  local  features  so  clearly 
defined  can  be  recognised  in  other  works  also.  In  the  chapel  of  S.  Wenzel 
in   Prague   Cathedral   the   wall-pictures   of  the   lower  tier   between  the  panels 


Fi".  112. 


of  Bohemian  agates  belong  to  it.  So,  as  far  as  they  still  exist,  do  a  series 
of  portraits  in  the  Lower  Church  of  the  Virgin  in  Karlstein,  on  the  narrow 
wall  behind  the  altar  ;  these  represent  Charles  IV.  presenting  relics  to  his  first 
wife  Blanche  of  Valois  ;  then  handing  a  ring  to  his  son  Wenzel  ;  then  before 
an  altar,  into  the  crucifix  upon  which  he  is  in  the  act  of  inserting  a  small 
piece  of  the  True  Cross,  given  him  as  a  relic  by  the  pope.  As  in  the  second 
picture  Wenzel  (/;.  A.D.  I  361)  already  appears  a  grown-up  young  man,  the  series 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  411 

must  have  been  painted  about  A.D.  1380.  Unfortunately  the  original  character 
of  these  works  has  been  in  great  part  obliterated  by  coarse  re-paintings.  More 
important  is  a  large  and  well-preserved  panel  from  the  church  at  Raudnitz.  In 
the  upper  division  the  Madonna  and  Child  are  enthroned  with  Charles  IV,  and 
his  son  KingWenzel  in  adoration  ;  behind  them  as  patrons  stand  SS.  Sigismund 
and  Wenzel.  Below  appear  the  saints  of  the  countr\-,  Vcit,  Ludmilla,  Pro- 
copius,  and  Adalbert,  before  whom  kneels  the  donor,  Archbishop  Ozko  von 
Wlaschim  (A.D.  i  364-1  380).  The  figures  and  types  of  the  heads  are  the  same, 
but  the  modelling  and  execution  of  the  forms  are  tenderer,  the  movements  more 
decided  though  modest,  only  the  feet  are  still  clums}'.  The  nude  figure  of  the 
Child  shows  observation  ;  all  the-  female  and  youthful  heads  are  of  a  gentle 
attractive  type,  while  the  older  heads,  like  that  of  S.  Adalbert,  are  full  of 
character,  and  in  the  Archbishop  there  is  even  an  attempt  to  give  a  likeness. 
The  colouring  is  clear  and  bright  in  tone.  According  to  the  age  given  to 
Wenzel,  this  picture  must  belong  to  about  A.D.   i  375-1  380. 

A  striking  example  of  the  same  school  is  an  altar-piece  e.xported  to 
the  distant  church  of  Miihlhausen,  on  the  Neckar,  representing  SS.  Wenzel, 
\'eit,  and  Sigismund,  Christ  on  the  Cross  between  Mary  and  John,  the 
Annunciation  and  Coronation  of  the  Virgin,  with  the  donor,  Reinhard,  a  native 
of  Miihlhausen  settled  at  Prague,  on  his  knees  beside  his  deceased  brother 
Eberhard.  The  inscription  gives  both  these  names  and  the  date  1385,  and  we 
can  trace  the  donor  as  being  inscribed  at  this  time  on  the  register  of  owners  of 
house-property  in  Prague,  and  as  having  died  A.D.  1400.  The  mural  paintings 
in  the  chapel  (founded  A.D.  1380),  as  well  as  the  carved  and  painted  high  altar, 
are  works  of  the  local  Swabian  school,  but  the  second  altar,  of  which  we  have 
spoken,  was  sent  by  its  donor  Reinhard  from  his  new  home  in  Bohemia. 

Lastly,  the  character  of  this  school  in  the  proportions,  draperies,  and  types 
of  head  is  strikingly  exhibited  by  some  drawings  in  the  art  collection  of  the 
University  of  Erlangen  and  in  the  Ducal  Library  at  Bernburg,  which,  accord- 
ing to  a  note  in  a  sixteenth  century  hand,  are  by  "  an  apprentice "  (or,  "  the 
apprentices")  of  Prague.''' 

VI.  School  of  Cologne. — The  school  of  Prague,  having  grown  up  in  a 
locality  open  to  artistic  influences  from  various  quarters,  had  developed  cha- 
racteristics of  its  own  which  distinguished  it  essentially  from  the  art  of  the  more 
westerly  regions  north  of  the  Alps.  It  is  pervaded  by  a  spirit  of  sacerdotal 
austerity  and  solemnity  which  elsewhere  disappears  in  this  century,  combined 
with  courtly  pomp  and  splendour,  of  a  cast,  it  is  true,  somewhat  heavy  and 
dull.  Of  flow  and  movement  the  school  shows  less,  and  the  soft  artificial  charm 
of  chivalrous  manners  plays  as  little  part  in  its  work  as  does  the  passionate  enthu- 
siasm of  religious  fervour  which  constitutes  the  other  half  of  what  we  arc  accus- 
tomed to  regard  as  the  ideal  of  the  later  Middle  Age.      This  idial,  (jn  the  other 


412  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

hand,  lived  and  governed  in  the  other  German  schools,  where  we  find  it  towards 
the  end  of  the  century  carried  to  its  extreme  pitch,  but  in  forms  of  a  peculiar 
charm.  The  school  which  presents  in  this  respect  the  strongest  contrast  to 
that  of  Prague  is  that  of  the  Lower  Rhine  or  of  Cologne.  It  must  not,  how- 
ever, be  imagined  that  this  vein  of  sentiment  originated  here,  or  that  it  was  a 
special  local  characteristic  of  the  Lower  Rhine.  Rather  its  home  was  equally 
in  the  north  of  Germany  and  in  the  south — in  Westphalia,  Hesse,  Franconia, 
Bavaria,  on  the  Upper  Rhine,  as  well  as  in  France  and  the  Netherlands,  in 
whose  miniature-paintings  we  have  already  seen  its  influence.  But  a  particularly 
flourishing  school  inspired  by  this  ideal  existed  in  and  about  Cologne, 
to  the  development  of  which  local  circumstances  were  favourable,  and  of 
which  a  great  number  of  existing  works  enable  us  to  judge.  This  Late  Gothic 
style  had  long  displayed  itself  in  this  neighbourhood  in  mural  paintings 
like  those  of  Ramersdorf ;  but  towards  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century 
its  activity  is  to  be  traced  especially  and  essentially  in  the  production  of  altar- 
panels. 

Although  individual  masters  seldom  assert  their  personality  at  this  time, 
the  Limburg  Chronicle,  under  the  date  A.D,  i  380,  mentions  the  name  of  a  famous 
painter  of  Cologne.  "  There  was  at  this  time  in  Cologne  a  celebrated  painter, 
the  like  of  whom  was  not  in  the  whole  of  Christendom.  So  cunningly  did  he 
portray  every  man,  it  seemed  as  though  they  were  alive.  He  was  named 
Wilhelm."  It  has  been  thought  that  the  artist  thus  extolled  was  the  same  as 
a  painter  Wilhelm,  of  Herle  in  the  present  province  of  Limburg,  who  bought 
a  house  A.D.  135 8, and  appears  in  various  entries  as  a  person  in  good  circum- 
stances ;  last  in  1372  ;  and  we  know  that  he  died  A.D.  1378,  as  transactions 
are  then  on  record  concerning  his  inheritance.  But  this  identification  remains 
doubtful.  Perhaps  more  important  is  another  trace  of  the  master  which  occurs  in 
the  registers  of  municipal  expenditure  from  A.D.  i  370- 1  390.  On  page  i  2  stands 
written — "To  Master  Wilhelm  for  painting  the  Oath  Book,  nine  marks." "'^^  The 
passage  refers  to  the  Oath  Book  of  A.D.  1372,  from  which,  unfortunately, 
the  miniature  has  been  cut  out.  Other  entries  run  no  longer  Magistro  WilJiehno^ 
but  ovXy  pictori ;  but  it  is  probable  that  all  these  payments  refer  to  the  town 
painter,  and  that  he  is  identical  with  the  Wilhelm  of  the  Chronicle.  They  con- 
cern a  picture  of  Mary  in  the  church  of  S.  Cunibert,  and  other  paintings  on  the 
town  banners  and  pennons.  He  received  i  1 6  marks  for  painting  the  meat 
market  near  S.  Cunibert  ;  202  marks  for  decorating  the  new  market  ;  290  for 
the  paintings  in  the  upper  part  of  the  town-hall  {pro  pictiira  super  douio  civiiini). 
There  have  actually  been  found  traces  of  life-sized  figures,  probably  Prophets,  in 
the  Hansasaal  of  the  town-hall,  opposite  the  carved  work  with  the  Nine 
Heroes.  The  remains,  in  the  shape  of  a  few  heads,  preserved  in  the  cloister  of 
the  Cologne  Museum,  show  an  easy,  skilful  style  of  work,  but  are  not  sufficient 
to   enable  us   to   identify  panels  by  the  same  hand.      It  is,  therefore,  not  scien- 


MEDL-EVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  413 

tificalh'  justifiable  to  speak  of  panels  by  Master  W'ilhelm.  All  \vc  know  is  that 
there  exist  admirable  pictures  painted  at  Cologne  in  his  time,  and  that  the 
examples  of  this  school  belong  to  the  best  panel-paintings  of  the  period. 
We  must  be  satisfied  with  this  limited  amount  of  knowledge  concernin"-  an 
epoch  in  which  the  histor\-  of  art  is  not  yet  a  liistor}-  of  artists,  and  the  best 
master  stands  out  from  his  fellows  of  the  guild,  not  by  a  difference  of  style 
or  sentiment,  but  onl)-  by  superior  technical  skill. 

If  the  school  of  Prague  shows  the  dawn  of  an  objecti\e  way  of  regarding 
nature,  the  Cologne  panels,  on  the  other  hand,  are  full  of  a  personal,  subjective, 
lyrical  spirit.  Their  painters  have  not  come  nearer  to  nature  by  increased 
observation  ;  they  only  have  the  art  of  penetrating  farther  than  their  predeces- 
sors the  finer  emotions,  the  intimate  life  of  the  feelings.  The  body  for  them  is 
only  the  instrument  of  the  soul,  and  onl)-  valued  so  far  as  it  serves  for  the 
expression  of  sentiment.  In  form  and  movement  the  figures  preserve  the  tra- 
ditional Late  Gothic  type.  The  bodies  are  slender,  disproportionately  tall,  of  an 
undulating  carriage,  almost  without  hips  or  any  indication  of  the  osseous  struc- 
ture ;  the  limbs  are  weakly,  and  almost  incapable  of  strong  action  ;  the  hands 
long,  delicate,  almost  devoid  of  joints  and  knuckles.  The  draperies  are  full  and 
flowing,  but  descend  in  soft  even  folds,  without  bringing  out  the  form  of  the 
body.  The  conception  differs  from  the  customary  Gothic  style  only  in  this, 
that  the  traits  of  bluntness  and  coarseness  disappear  ;  the  gestures  are  more 
measured ;  the  outward  sway  of  the  bodies  somewhat  less ;  the  heads,  advantage 
being  taken  of  the  technical  facilities  offered  by  painting  on  panel,  more  firmly 
wrought  and  of  more  animation.  Their  type,  too,  is  more  constant.  The}'  are 
of  a  long  oval  shape  with  high  forehead,  straight,  rather  long  nose,  and  small 
mouth  ;  eyes  set  far  back,  with  half-closed  lids.  But  from  these  features  there 
breathes  an  exquisite  serenity  of  spirit,  a  loving  tenderness  and  undimmed 
purity  of  soul,  devout  resignation  and  enthusiastic  yearning.  Feminine  and 
youthful  expressions  are  the  most  successful  ;  those  even  of  grave  and  bearded 
men  never  get  beyond  mildness  with  dignity.  The  colouring  corresponds  with 
this  pervading  sentiment.  In  the  drapery  it  is  light  and  li\el)',  but  always  with 
delicate  broken  tones  ;  in  the  flesh  it  arrives  at  the  tenderest  transparency,  with 
perfectly  white  high  lights  ;  the  handling  is  liquid  and  clear,  with  a  moderate 
degree  of  modelling,  and  always  adapted  to  the  rich  gold  ground  which  .spreads 
behind  the  figures,  and  transports  them  into  an  ideal  world. 

In  these  paintings  lias  been  recognised  a  reflection  of  the  religious  senti- 
ments of  the  time,  and,  above  all,  of  the  tendencies  of  the  mj-stics.  There 
breathes  in  them,  indeed,  a  religious  fervour  which  is  something  bej-ond  mere 
sacerdotal  piety,  and  springs  from  the  inmo.st  needs  of  the  human  heart.  I  lowevcr 
much  the  mystics,  "  the  friends  of  God,"  in  that  day  condemned  the  hollow  forma- 
lism of  d(jctrine,  the  abuses  of  the  Church,  and  the  immoral  lives  of  her  ministers, 
they  sought  the  remed)-  not  in  violent  measures  of  reformation,  but  in  outward 


414 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


works  ;  not  in  fasting  and  penance  nor  in  pious  donations,  not  in  the  mortifica- 
tions which  are  a  sudden  revulsion  from  world K-  pleasures  and  sensual  riot,  but 
rather  in  the  return  of  the  individual  upon  himself,  in  the  union  of  the  soul 
with  God,  in  personal  resignation  and  longing  for  salvation.  It  was,  therefore, 
by  no  mere  chance  that  this  tendency  in  painting  took  shape  in  those  parts  of 
the  Rhine  country  where  mysticism  was  at  home,  and  that  Cologne,  where 
Master  Eckhardt  preached,  was   its  chief  centre.      The  mystics   had   no  feeling 

for  architecture  ;  the  building  of  a 
great  church  seemed  to  them  a  display 
of  pride  contrary  to  the  counsels  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  But  Suso  recommends 
Christians  always  to  have  by  them 
good  pictures,  by  which  the  heart  is 
kindled  towards  God  ;  and  the  ec- 
stasies and  visions  in  which  mystics 
delighted  took  in  their  imaginations 
the  form  of  lovely  pictures. 

One  of  the  principal  works  of  this 
Cologne  school  is  the  former  altar- 
piece  of  the  convent  church  of  the 
Clares,  now  in  one  of  the  chapels  of 
the  Cathedral  choir.  On  the  door  of 
the  shrine  for  the  sacred  elements  is 
depicted  a  priest  performing  the  mass ; 
elsewhere,  on  the  central  shrine  and 
insides  of  the  folding  wings  are  dis- 
tributed twenty-four  pictures,  those 
below  from  the  story  of  Christ's 
childhood,  and  those  above  from  the 
Passion.  The  lower  pictures  are  by 
far  the  best,  as  the  quiet  incidents 
were  the  most  suited  to  the  artist, 
and  in  them  he  could  give  full  play 
to  that  spirituality  of  expression  in 
attitude,  gesture,  and  countenance,  of  which  the  Annunciation  of  Fig.  i  1 3 
is  a  good  example.  He  tells  his  stories  with  freshness  and  detail.  The  birth 
of  Christ,  the  angels  appearing  to  the  shepherds,  and  the  bathing  of  the  Child, 
were  hitherto  generally  united  in  one  picture,  but  they  are  here  divided  into 
several.  The  violent  scenes  of  martyrdom  are  not  so  successful.  Here  the 
master's  work  is  more  artificial.  He  renders  the  incidents  with  the  crudeness 
to  which  his  contemporaries  were  accustomed  in  the  performances  of  Passion 
plays  ;  giving  the  same  burlesque  air  to  the  executioners  as  they  wore  on  the 


Fig.  113- 


MEDL-EVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD. 


415 


stage,  and  in  these  scenes  of  stirring  action  falling  into  exaggerations  and 
betraying  the  weakness  of  his  draughtsmanship. 

By  its,  subject-matter  this  work  is  allied  to  a  memorial  panel  in  the  Berlin 
Museum,  with  thirty-five  small  pictures  in  five  tiers  ;  the  work,  however,  is  here 
extremely  slight,  and  in  the  lower  parts  even  rude.  There  is  a  singular 
simplicity  in  the  scene  where  the  boy  Christ  begins  to  teach  among  a  company 
of  other  children  playing  at  top.  Many  of  the  scenes,  like  the  Adoration  of  the 
Kings,  are  cleverly  composed  and  delicatel}-  coloured  in  spite  of  a  mechanical 
execution.  The  subject  of  Christ  teaching  is  judiciously  conceived  ;  he 
speaks  from  a  pulpit  with  an  air  of 
gentle  intelligence,  and  there  is  much 
dramatic  life  in  the  audience.  A  woman 
sitting  opposite  to  him  lifts  her  left 
hand  to  show  that  she  is  convinced  ;  an 
old  man  next  to  her  counts  carefully 
on  his  fingers  ;  but  three  antagonists 
seize  stones  to  fling  at  him.  The  Pas- 
sion pictures  are  very  rude  here  also  ; 
last  comes  the  Judgment  with  the  family 
of  the  donor  on  their  knees. 

The  winning  figure  of  S.  Veronica, 
with  the  impression  of  Christ's  face  on 
the  cloth,  is  preserved  in  the  PinakotJiek 
at  Munich,  and  in  the  Morizcapelle  at 
Nuremberg  are  two  large  panels  with 
delicate  figures  of  SS.  Elizabeth  and 
Barbara  on  a  red  ground  with  gold  stars. 
We  must  not  dwell  in  detail  on  any 
of  the  numerous  pictures  of  this  period 
— scenes  from  the  Passion,  Crucifixions, 

figures  of  saints — in  the  Cologne  Museum.  The  gem  among  them  all  is  a  small 
triptych  known  as  the  Madonna  zvith  the  bean-flotver.  A  half-length  of  the 
Virgin  with  beautiful  golden  hair  fills  the  centre  piece  ;  in  the  left  hantl  she 
holds  the  blossom,  and  on  her  right  arm  she  carries  the  Child  half  undrapcd. 
The  form  and  gestures  of  the  Child  are  full  of  charm  ;  with  one  hand  it  reaches 
up  caressingly  to  her  chin,  and  with  the  other  holds  a  rosary  as  if  in  play  (I'ig. 
114).  On  the  wings  appear  SS.  Catherine  and  Barbara,  ami  outside",  in  a 
slighter  manner,  a  Mocking  of  Christ.  In  purity  and  tenderness  of  expression, 
in  loving  sweetness  of  .sentiment,  innocent  freshness,  and  a  refinement  of  taste 
which  almost  makes  up  for  imperfections  of  form,  as  well  as  in  bright  delicate 
harmony  of  colour,  this  picture  .stands  at  the  very  head  of  the  class  to  which  it 
belongs. 


Fig.  114. 


4i6 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


This  poetic  feeling  comes  out  with  peculiar  force  in  some  purely  idyllic 
pictures  of  the  Madonna,  for  the  design  of  which  unexpected  and  delightful 
situations  are  invented,  particularly  in  pictures  intended  not  so  much  for  churches 


tn 
S 


as  for  domestic  devotion.  We  here  find  Mary,  not  enthroned  in  solemn  dignity, 
but  sitting  familiarl}'  with  the  Child  on  a  flowery  sward  enclosed  by  a  garden 
hedge.  The  little  flowers  and  stalks  are  already  painted  neatly  and  naturally 
although  the  background,  instead  of  a  natural  landscape,  is  still  in  plain  gold. 
Round  about  the  Virgin  gathers  a  company  of  saints,  of  virgin  saints  by  prefer- 


MEDLEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  417 

ence,  who  read,  rest,  or  discourse  pleasantly  to  one  another  like  so  man}-  ladies 
of  her  court,  and  are  often  dressed,  after  the  fashion  of  the  time,  in  long-waisted 
bodices  made  of  rich  brocaded  stuffs  and  bordered  with  ermine,  with  bare  necks 
and  long  flowing  hair.  On  a  triptych  in  the  Berlin  Museum  the  Virgin  is  thus 
represented,  seated,  wearing  a  rich  crown,  surrounded  by  four  female  saints  ;  on 
the  folding  doors  stand  SS.  Elizabeth  and  Agnes,  whose  lamb  jumps  up  to 
her  like  a  pet  dog.  The  nude  Child  on  the  Virgin's  lap  (for  they  began  at 
this  time  to  give  up  the  prudish  draping  of  the  infant  body),  in  turning  lustily 
towards  S.  Doroth)'  and  grasping  at  her  flower  basket,  scatters  the  roses  and 
pinks  playfully  about,  while  S.  Catharine,  who  sits  in  front  in  a  court  dress, 
tries  to  pick  up  a  rose  with  the  little  red  bag  hanging  from  her  girdle. 

The  smaller  the  dimensions  of  the  picture  the  more  delicately  is  it  often 
executed,  as  may  be  seen  from  a  little  example  in  the  Town  Museum  of  Frank- 
fort (Fig.  I  15),  In  a  rose-garden  enclosed  by  a  battlemented  wall,  and  under 
fruit-trees  alive  with  birds,  sits  the  Virgin  reading  in  a  book  ;  near  her  stands  a 
table  with  food  and  drink.  While  she  is  quite  absorbed  in  devout  meditation 
three  holy  maidens  of  her  company  busy  themselves  about  her  earthly  needs  ; 
one  draws  water  from  a  well,  a  second  gathers  cherries,  while  a  third  takes 
care  of  the  infant  Christ,  and  teaches  him  to  play  the  cithern.  Three  male  saints 
in  knightly  garb  complete  the  company,  George  and  Michael  sit  on  the  ground, 
and  a  third  figure,  leaning  against  a  tree,  stoops  down  to  them  in  easy  conver- 
sation. So  the  spirit  of  the  courtesy  and  the  cheerfulness  of  life  is  mixed  with 
the  religious  spirit,  but  in  no  way  disturbs  the  tranquil  innocence  of  the  scene. 

VII.  Remaining  Schools  of  Germany. — Allied  to  the  school  of  the 
Lower  Rhine  is  that  of  Westphalia,  as  we  see  by  the  Coronation  of  the  Virgin, 
and  the  slender  figures  of  SS.  Ottilia  and  Dorothy,  from  the  monastery  of 
S.  Walpurgis  in  Soest  (Miinster,  Provincial  Museum),  but  more  especially  by 
the  altar-piece  of  the  Neustadt  at  Bielefeld.  In  the  large  central  picture  the 
Madonna  is  enthroned  between  Peter  and  Paul,  the  two  Johns,  three  male  and 
three  female  saints  ;  and  on  twelve  small  pictures  in  the  wings  is  depicted  the 
story  of  Mary  and  Christ,  from  the  meeting  of  Joachim  and  Anna  at  the  porch 
of  the  Temple  to  the  Resurrection.  Similar  to  these  is  a  panel  in  the  cathedral 
at  Halberstadt,  with  the  Madonna  and  Child  between  Peter  and  Paul,  four 
female  Saints,  and  angels  ;  the  weak  figures  with  large  heads  differ  from  the 
fervour  and  purity  of  the  Rhenish  school  by  an  almost  sentimental  expression 
of  melancholy.'^ 

Several  good  pictures  from  Hesse  and  Middle  Rhineland  are  preserved 
in  the  Darmstadt  Museum,  as  for  instance  a  broad  winged  altar-piece  from  tlu 
church  at  Ortenbcrg  in  Upper  Hesse.  The  centnil  panel,  with  a  number  of 
figures,  exhibits  the  entire  Holy  Family,  who  have  been  joined  by  angels  ])lay- 
ing  on  musical  instruments,  and  three  holy  virgins — Agnes,  who  hands  a  lil\-  up 

3  H 


41 8  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

to  the  Madonna,  Barbara,  and  Dorothy.  The  motives  of  this  intimate  family- 
gathering  are  of  the  most  innocent  loveliness  ;  Elizabeth  caresses  the  infant 
Christ,  the  other  children  with  their  apples,  books,  and  slates  are  conceived  in 
the  most  charming  and  natural  way.  On  the  wings  are  represented  the  birth 
of  Christ  and  the  Adoration  of  the  Kings,  in  which  later  subject  Joseph  is  to  be 
observ^ed  mixing  the  pap.  The  flesh  parts  and  light  gold  hair  only  are  coloured 
with  handling  as  delicate  as  enamel  ;  all  the  rest  is  gold,  the  ground  as 
well  as  the  draperies,  which  are  subdued  by  dark  hatchings  and  a  dull  tone  of 
glazing. 

Among  the  works  of  South  Germany,  and  especially  Bavaria,  the  altar-piece 
from  the  castle  chapel  at  Pahl  near  Weilheim,  in  the  Munich  National 
Museum,  takes  the  first  rank.  On  the  outside  of  the  wings  are  the  Madonna 
and  the  Man  of  Sorrows,  and  on  the  inside,  still  more  finely  executed  on  a 
gold  ground,  the  crucified  Saviour  between  Mary  and  John,  and  on  the  sides 
John  the  Baptist  and  S.  Barbara.  The  heads  are  full  of  nobility  and  beauty, 
and  Mary's  countenance  especially  has  a  great  depth  and  purity  of  expression. 
In  Nuremberg  we  find  a  distinct  school,  which  may  be  classed  with  that  of 
Cologne  for  tenderness  and  sweetness  of  expression,  but  the  forms  are  more 
worked  out  and  full,  the  relief  greater,  deeper  in  tone,  and  of  a  warmish  brown 
in  the  flesh.^*^  Four  narrow  altar-wings  from  the  ruined  church  of  S.  Katharine 
in  Nuremberg,  now  in  the  Berlin  Museum,  are  said  on  documentary  evidence 
to  have  been  presented  A.D.  1400  by  the  Deichsler  family  ;  in  which  case  they 
may  help  us  to  date  other  examples  of  a  similar  kind.  The  panels  contain 
four  statuesque  pictures  full  of  grace  in  the  attitudes,  Mary  with  the  nude  Child, 
before  whom  she  holds  a  fruit ;  Peter  Martyr,  and  rather  smaller,  under  Gothic 
tabernacles,  Elizabeth  and  John  the  Baptist.  The  striking  austerity  of  these 
works — an  austerity  full,  however,  of  character — soon  yields  in  those  that  follow 
to  a  softer  and  more  pleasing  style,  as  we  see  in  the  memorial  picture  from  the 
tomb  of  Paul  Stromer  {d.  A.D.  1 406)  in  the  LorenzkircJie,  with  the  Redeemer  on 
clouds  between  angels,  who  carr)-  the  implements  of  his  death  ;  and  in  that 
of  Kunigunde  Kunz  Rymensnyderin  {d.  A.D.  1409)  in  the  same  place,  with  the 
dead  Christ  held  up  by  Mary  and  John.  The  finest  work  of  this  time  is 
the  Imhof  altar-piece  in  the  Lorenzkirche.  In  the  centre  picture  Mary  is  en- 
throned beside  Christ,  who  sets  the  crown  upon  her  head  ;  on  the  wings  are  two 
Apostles,  and  the  family  of  the  founder  ;  on  the  predella,  busts  of  Saints.  In 
the  castle  is  preserved  a  Bewailing  of  Christ,  which  once  formed  the  back  of 
the  same  altar-piece.  The  modelling  here  is  of  surprising  power  and  care, 
along  with  luminous,  tender,  and  full-bodied  colour;  the  extremities,  and  especially 
the  hands,  are  finished  in  a  manner  seldom  seen  at  that  time  ;  the  heads,  pure 
in  form,  and  with  an  expression  of  gentle  thought,  are  still  free  from  the  over- 
sweetness  which  pervades  the  works  of  the  Lower  Rhine,  and  therefore  more 
healthy  in  tone.^^ 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD. 


419 


A  picture  in  private  possession  in  Vienna  has  such  close  technical  resem- 
blance to  these  paintings,  that  it  probably  belongs  also  to  the  Nuremberg  school  ; 
it  exhibits  a  peculiarly  familiar  conception  of  the  Holy  Family,  which  has  not 
the  caressing  sweetness  of  the  Cologne  school,  but  is  perhaps  all  the  more 
natural  and  agreeable.  Mary  and  Elizabeth  sit  on  a  stone  seat  spinning,  while 
their  two  little  naked  children  play  at  their  feet  ;  the  infant  Jesus  holds  a  spoon 
in  one  hand,  and  with  the  other  grasps  at  the  saucepan  held  by  his  playmate, 
who  seems  to  complain  to  his  mother  ;  on  the  scroll  stand  the  words,  "  Sichin 
muoter  ihesus  tuot  inier"  (Fig.  1 16).      The  colouring  of  the  whole  is  light,  on  a 


FiiT.  116. 


gold  ground,  and  the  dawning  feeling  for   nature    is  united  to  a  great  purity  of 
style  in  the  heads  and  studied  care  in  the  draperies.''- 


VIII.  Schools  of  France  and  the  Netherlands. — The  few  exist- 
ing panels  of  the  French  and  Flemish  schools  show  a  likeness  in  stylo  and 
character  to  those  of  the  Lower  Rhine,  but  these  schools  can  best  be  judged  by 
their  work  in  miniature.  A  profile  bust  of  King  John  on  panel  with  a  diapered 
ground  is  preserved  in  the  print  room  of  the  Bib/iof/u\jite  Nationali'  in  Paris. 
In  the  Louvre  there  is  a  large  picture  of  the  Bewailing  of  Christ,  whose  dead 
body  is  held  by  God  the  Father,  with  Mary,  John,  and  angels  ;  ami  also  a 
second  large  panel  with  Christ  on  the  cross  in  the  centre,  on  the  left  Christ 
giving  the  Sacrament  to  S.  JJenis  in  prison,  and  on  the  right  the  beheading  of 
the  saint  ;   the  colouring  is  bright  on  a  g(jld  ground.     To  the  close  of  this  period 


420  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

belongs  a  Crucifixion  of  Christ  with  figures,  and  with  the  abbot  William  of 
S.  Germain  des  Pres  id.  A.D.  141  8)  as  donor,  and  with  a  view  of  Paris  and  the 
abbey  in  the  background.  The  colour  and  drawing  still  correspond  with  the 
older  schools.      Softness  and  gentleness  are  the  prevailing  expressions. 

The  most  important  Flemish  work  of  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century 
consists  of  two  altar-wings  from  the  Carthusian  Monastery  at  Dijon,  now  in  the 
museum  of  that  town.  They  may  be  accepted  as  the  work  of  Melchior  Broeder- 
1am  from  Ypres,  who  was  court  painter  and  chamberlain  to  Philip  the  Bold,  and 
whose  name  appears  in  the  accounts  of  the  Burgundian  Court  in  the  years 
A.D.  I  382-1401.  He  receives  payments  for  painted  banners,  for  the  painting  of 
the  Duchess's  carriage,and  several  times  also  for  pictures  on  panel ;  once  A.D.  i  392, 
and  again  A.D.  1398  and  1399  for  altar  shrines,  with  carved  work  by  Jacob  de 
Baerse,  destined  for  the  Carthusian  monastery  founded  by  the  Duke  A.D.  1383. 
The  two  broad  wings,  decorated  with  the  arms  and  initials  of  the  Duke,  contain 
on  the  inside  carvings  and  on  each  of  the  outside  panels  two  painted  subjects, 
one  of  which  is  under  a  rich  architectural  framework,  and  the  other  in  an  open 
landscape,  though  no  border  divides  the  two.  i.  The  Annunciation — Mary,  in 
blue  drapery,  sits  at  her  desk,  and  turns  her  head  meekly,  lifting  one  hand  with 
a  noble  gesture,  while  the  angel  in  red,  with  gold  wings,  kneels  before  her  on  the 
steps  of  the  porch.  God  the  Father  appears  above  between  red  and  blue  angels. 
2.  The  Visitation,  in  which  the  weak  drawing  of  the  hands  is  striking,  and  the 
expression  of  Elizabeth  surprises  by  its  individuality.  3.  The  Presentation,  in 
which  the  movements  of  the  Child  on  Mary's  arm  are  charming  ;  a  woman, 
dressed  in  red,  and  carrying  a  basket  with  doves  and  a  taper,  leads  the  mild  old 
Simeon.  4.  The  Flight  into  Egypt — Mary,  riding  on  an  ass,  has  wrapped 
the  Child  in  her  mantle  and  presses  it  to  her  ;  Joseph,  in  the  dress  of  a  peasant, 
with  his  bundle  slung  on  a  stick  over  his  shoulder  strides  on  in  front,  and 
quietly  swallows  a  mouthful  or  two  from  his  travelling-flask.  Thus  here,  too, 
in  the  midst  of  the  greatest  tenderness,  a  touch  of  every-day  truth  breaks  out  ; 
but  instead  of  the  courtly  delicacy  of  the  Cologne  school,  the  observation  of  the 
Flemish  master  is  of  a  bluntly  familiar  and  even  coarse  kind.  Instead  of  the 
pure,  spiritual,  transfigured  expression,  the  heads  have  more  of  a  childishly 
innocent  look,  the  flesh  tones  are  if  possible  more  delicate,  with  perfectly  white 
lights,  the  hair  is  a  pale  gold  passing  into  red,  the  cast  of  drapery  full  and 
flowing,  and  there  is  a  delightful  interchange  of  colour  in  the  tones  and  gold 
embroidery  of  the  dresses.  Amid  the  effective  and  richly-coloured  framework 
of  late  Gothic  architecture  appears  the  depressed  arch,  and  the  painted 
domical  building  behind  the  Annunciation  recalls  Romanesque  forms.  In  the 
landscape  the  aspect  of  the  rocks,  and  rivulets  springing  from  among  them  in 
the  foreground,  is  characteristically  grasped  ;  but  the  trees  are  conventional 
and  unnaturally  small,  and  instead  of  atmosphere  the  sky  is  covered  with 
gold.*^ 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  421 

With  all  its  ideality  of  mood  and  pious  inwardness,  this  school  nevertheless 
feels  itself  drawn  towards  reality,  and  fastens  with  power  and  joy  upon  whatever 
facts  come  within  the  scope  of  its  conceptions.  It  prepares  the  way  for  the 
positive  realism  destined  to  breathe  forth  in  the  Flemish  school  a  few  decades 
later,  and  to  place  the  art  of  painting  on  new  foundations 


CHAPTER   V. 

ITALY. 

Introductory  ;  Italy  in  this  age  takes  the  lead  in  painting,  and  especially  in  mural  painting — Genius  of  tlie 
Italian  population — Political  conditions — New  life  of  art  ;  its  local  centres — Social  conditions — 
CiMABUE  AND  Duccio  ;  revival  of  art  in  Tuscany  about  a.d.  1250  ;  Niccola  Pisano— Improvement  of 
painting  slower  than  that  of  sculpture — Fanciful  accounts  of  Ghiberti  and  Vasari— Cimabue  ;  Vasari's 
account  here  confirmed  by  Dante — Madonnas  of  Cimabue  at  Florence  and  Paris — His  mural  paintings 
at  Assisi — His  mosaic  at  Pisa  ;  and  his  death — His  minor  Florentine  contemporaries ;  Coppo  di 
Marcovaldo  ;  Andrea  Tafi — Masters  of  other  cities  ;  Margaritone  of  Arezzo  ;  Guido  of  Siena — Duccio 
of  Siena  ;  his  famous  altar-piece — His  style  and  merits — His  disciples  Segna  and  Ugolino — RoMAN 
Mosaics  ;  survival  of  the  traditional  practice  of  this  art — Pietro  Cavallini — ^Jacobus  Torriti ;  his  mosaics 
at  the  Lateran  and  Santa  Maria  Maggiore — Philippus  Rusuti — Injured  mosaic  at  Naples — GlOTTO  ;  his 
contemporary  fame  ;  his  birth,  life,  and  death — Literary  evidences  as  to  his  character— His  early  series 
of  frescoes  in  the  Upper  Church  of  Assisi — His  works  at  Rome — In  the  Arena  chapel  at  Padua  ;  tlieir 
date — Their  subjects — Their  style  ;  types  and  proportions — Draperies — Composition — Colour — Natural- 
ness— Dramatic  truth  and  energy — Analogy  with  Dante  in  the  use  of  familiar  images — -Traces  of  other 
works  at  Padua  and  Ravenna — Frescoes  in  Lower  Church  at  Assisi — Marriage  of  S.  Francis  and 
Poverty — Allegory  of  Chastity — Of  Obedience — Artistic  character  of  these  allegories — Other  frescoes 
in  Lower  Church — Lost  works  at  Rimini  and  Naples — Frescoes  at  Florence;  Bardi  and  Peruzzi 
chapels — Paintings  on  panel — General  relation  of  Giotto  to  his  predecessors — Pupils  and  Followers 
OF  Giotto  ;  their  training  and  traditions  as  described  by  Cennino — Method  of  fresco — Metliod  ot 
tempera — Duration  of  apprenticeship — Trade  organisation — Taddeo  Gaddi ;  his  altar-pieces  at  Berlin 
and  Siena — His  frescoes  at  Florence  and  Pisa — Maso  ;  his  frescoes  at  Florence — The  less-known 
followers  of  Giotto ;  Stefano,  Giottino,  Puccio  Capanna,  Buffalmacco — Bernardo  di  Daddo — Jacopo 
da  Casentino— Giovanni  da  Milano — Agnolo  Gaddi — Orcagna  ;  his  frescoes  in  SatUa  Ma7ia  Novella 
— His  altar-pieces — Traini — Frescoes  of  uncertain  authorship  ;  refectoiy  of  S.  Croce — Spanish  Chapel — 
The  Dominicans  and  their  relation  to  art — Glory  of  Thomas  Aquinas — Allegory  of  Church  Government 
— Secular  and  civic  allegories  ;  lost  examples — School  of  Siena  ;  Simone  Martini — His  frescoes  in 
the  Public  Palace  at  Siena — Other  works  at  Assisi,  Naples,  Orvieto,  Pisa,  Florence,  Liverpool — 
Simone  at  Avignon — Lippo  Memmi — Ambrogio  and  Pietro  di  Lorenzo — Panels  by  Pietro  at  San 
Ansano,  Florence,  Siena,  and  Arezzo — Frescoes  by  Ambrogio  at  Siena — Allegory  of  Good  Govern- 
ment— Allegoiy  of  tyranny — Panels  by  Ambrogio  di  Lorenzo — Various  masters  of  the  declining  Sienese 
school — Taddeo  Bartoli — The  Campo  Santo  at  Pisa,  and  Expiration  of  the  School  of 
Giotto  ;  history  of  the  Campo  Santo — Errors  of  Vasari — Order  of  execution  of  the  frescoes — Triumph 
of  Death  —  Last  Judgment  and  Hell  —  The  Hermit  Life — Story  of  S.  Ranieri  —  Stories  of  SS. 
Ephysius  and  Hippolytus — Subjects  from  the  Book  of  Genesis — Spinello  Aretino  ;  his  frescoes  at  San 
Miniato — Niccola  di  Pietro  Cierino — Don  Lorenzo — Gherardo  Stamina — Other  Provinces  of 
Italy  ;  frescoes  at  Naples — Mosaics  at  Messina — Umbria  and  the  Marches  :  Ottaviano  Nelli — Alegretto 
Nuzi^Weakness  of  the  Bolognese,  Modenese,  and  Venetian  schools — Comparative  excellence  of  the 
Paduan  and  Veronese  ;  Altichiero  and  Avanzi — Their  frescoes  in  chapel  of  S.  Felice,  Padua — In 
chapel  of  S.  George — Guariento — Miniatures  ;  comparatively  unimportant,  notwithstanding  their 
excellence,  beside  the  other  productions  of  Italian  art  in  this  age — Work  stimulated  in  the  thirteenth 
century  by  French  influence — Independent,  and  of  thoroughly  Italian  character  by  the  fourteenth — 
Recorded  names  of  illuminators  ;  Oderigi  of  Gubbio  ;  Franco  of  Bologna  ;  Don  Silvestro — Examples 
of  their  age  and  spirit,  but  not  of  their  hands — Bologna  a  chief  seat  of  the  art — Illuminated  MSS.  of 
Dante  and  Petrarch — Sicilian  fourteenth  century  MS. — Italian  illuminators  in  the  employ  of  French 
patrons — CONCLUSION. 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  423 

In  the  Gothic  as  in  the  two  preceding  periods,  Italian  painting  demands  to  be 
separately  considered,  since  both  as  to  conceptions  and  technical  methods  it 
followed  lines  of  its  own.  But  whereas  during  the  two  former  periods  Itah'  had 
lagged  behind  the  north,  and  only  rose  above  primitive  rudeness  under  the  effect 
of  Byzantine  influences,  in  the  period  we  are  now  considering  she  outsoared  all 
other  countries.  The  conditions  were  at  the  outset  more  favourable  to  painting 
here  than  elsewhere.  As  Gothic  principles  of  architecture  were  never  consis- 
tently carried  out  in  Italy,  so  painting  was  not  cramped  by  the  limitations  those 
principles  impose.  The  French  style  of  building  only  appeared  in  Italy  so 
transformed  as  to  suit  the  traditional  taste  of  the  country.  Even  where  both 
construction  and  detail  were  taken  from  the  Gothic,  architecture  in  Italy  remained 
exempt  from  that  exclusive  pursuit  of  height,  that  predominance  of  the  principle 
of  the  perpendicular,  which  was  of  the  essence  of  the  northern  style,  and  kept  up  its 
old  love  for  clear  and  ample  interior  spaces.  There  was  thus  no  inclination  to 
break  up  the  whole  structure  into  vertical  members,  to  banish  wall-surfaces,  and 
fill  all  the  space  between  the  several  piers  and  vaultings  with  huge  windows, 
which  would  have  been  quite  out  of  place  in  the  intense  daylight  of  the  south. 
The  wall-surfaces  retained  their  old  importance  in  the  scheme,  and  were  treated, 
now  as  ever,  as  so  many  sheets  of  pictured  tapestry.  Whereas  wall-painting 
in  the  north  played  but  a  secondary  part  after  the  Gothic  style  reached  per- 
fection, and  was  executed  for  the  most  part  in  a  merely  decorative  wa}-,  in 
Italy  it  was  an  essential  feature.  At  the  same  time,  compared  with  painting 
on  wall  and  panel,  all  other  branches  of  the  art  fell  into  the  background  ; 
neither  miniature -painting,  although  it  produced  some  charming  volumes  of 
luxe,  nor  glass-painting,  adds  anything  of  independent  importance  to  the  histor)- 
of  Italian  art  at  this  time. 

The  conceptions  of  Italian  art  differed  also  from  those  of  other  countries. 
The  soft  and  sentimental  charm  which  corresponded  to  the  manners  of  chivalry 
found  much  less  place  here,  for  chivalry  in  its  ideal  and  fantastic  aspects  was 
foreign  to  Italy.  The  feudal  nobility  were  less  sharply  separated  as  a  class  from 
the  rest  of  the  population  than  elsewhere,  and  were  generally  content  to  form 
part  of  the  civic  commonwealth,  founding  their  influence  upon  wealth  and  the 
reality  of  power.  The  subjects  of  chivalrous  poetry,  too,  were  as  far  from 
affecting  Italian  painting  as  were  the  popular  humour  and  mocking  fancy  of  the 
north.  Even  the  great  revival  of  Italian  poetr>'  which  preceded  that  of  the 
manual  arts  furnished  the  latter  with  no  new  subjects.  The  Divine  Comed\-  of 
Dante  filled  the  souls  of  artists  and  supplied  their  spiritual  nourishment  for 
centuries;  but  the  images  it  awakened  coincided  in  the  main  with  tliose 
already  supplied  by  the  Church,  or  where  they  ditl  not  do  so,  were  of  a  fantastic 
kind  unsuited  to  be  embodied  in  art.  The  subjects  of  painting,  then,  were  in 
Italy,  even  more  exclusive]}-  than  in  the  north,  religious,  hut  they  were  con- 
ceived   in    a   different    spirit.      h'ervent    as    was    the    religious    temper    of    the 


424  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

population,  and  mounting  even  to  enthusiastic  heights  under  the  influence  of  the 
ne\vl)'-arisen  mendicant  orders,  still  that  mystical  sweetness  of  the  north  was 
not  known  to  Italian  painting,  and  even  a  spiritual  tenderness  of  expression  is 
characteristic  at  most  of  this  or  that  particular  master  or  school.  Even  in 
sacred  scenes  the  Italian  artist  allows  real  feelings  and  passions  to  express  them- 
selves, and  real  transactions  and  relations  of  life  to  be  portrayed.  The  sense  of 
the  importance  and  power  of  human  individuality,  which  was  a  part  of  the 
heritage  of  classical  antiquity,  affirmed  itself  in  opposition  to  the  mediaeval 
Christian  point  of  view  here  earlier  than  among  other  nations.  In  the  intellec- 
tual sphere  this  assertion  of  the  principles  of  individual  freedom  produced 
precious  fruits  ;  whereas  in  the  practical  sphere  its  excess  led  to  arbitrary  living, 
selfishness,  and  contempt  of  all  moral  limitations. 

After  the  downfall  of  the  house  of  Hohenstaufen,  the  Imperial  power  ceased 
practically  to  exist  for  Italy.  The  expedition  of  Henry  VII.  to  Rome,  which  was 
greeted  with  hope  by  Dante,  came  to  nothing  through  inadequacy  of  resources 
and  through  the  premature  death  of  the  Emperor.  The  Papacy  had  been  strong 
enough  to  undermine,  but  not  to  replace,  the  supreme  political  authority  ;  that  it 
allowed  itself  to  be  drawn  into  party  warfare  was  its  misfortune.  The  attempt 
made  by  Boniface  VIII.  to  maintain  the  full  authority  of  the  Church  did  not 
outlast  its  author.  In  the  war  with  the  house  of  Hohenstaufen  the  Papacy  had 
thrown  itself  into  the  arms  of  France,  and  on  France  it  now  became  dependent ; 
under  Clement  V.  its  seat  was  transferred  from  Rome  to  Avignon.  Every  pro- 
vince, nay,  every  individual  community,  was  torn  by  factions,  amid  which  the 
old  names  of  Guelf  and  Ghibelline  no  longer  stood  for  the  partisans  of  Pope 
or  Emperor,  but  for  enemies  arrayed  against  one  another  in  purely  local  quarrels. 
This  is  the  state  of  things  described  by  Dante  in  the  famous  apostrophe  follow- 
ing the  greeting  of  Sordello  and  Virgil  in  the  sixth  canto  of  the  Purgatory: — 

O  Italy  !  thou  slave  !  thou  house  of  woe  ! 

Bark  on  tempestuous  gulfs  unpiloted  ! 
Brothel  !  no  more  as  lady  of  realms  to  know  ! 

With  such  kind  haste  that  gentle  spirit  sped, 
Of  his  dear  land  but  hearing  the  name's  sound, 

To  greet  his  fellow-townsman  'mid  the  dead  ; 
While  save  at  strife  stand  not  within  thy  bound 

Thy  living  sons,  and  each  the  other  gnaws 
Of  those  one  rampart  and  one  ditch  surround. 

Dante,  Piirg.,  vi.  75. 

But  these  wars  and  tumults  were  no  manifestations  of  barbarism  ;  they  were 
rather  perversions  of  the  consciousness  of  power  and  the  impulse  of  freedom. 
Thus  this  period  of  frightful  political  distraction  was  yet  a  period  of  growing 
culture  among  the  people. 

At  that  time,  when  a  national  language  emerged  from  among  the  several  dia- 
lects and  formed  a  literature  for  itself — when  Dante  gave  majestic  expression  to 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD. 


425 


the  strifes,  dispositions,  and  imaginations  of  the  time — when  Petrarch,  even  greater 
as  a  scholar  than  as  a  poet,  stood  at  the  head  of  those  who  led  back  mankind 
to  the  sources  of  ancient  culture — when  the  universities  of  Italy  became  the 
nurseries  of  knowledge — then,  too,  began  a  new  and  independent  life  for  art, 
which  from  that  time  forth  rested  entirely  on  the  national  spirit.  But  it  did 
not  strike  root  in  all  parts  of  the  country.  South  Italy,  which  lay  directly 
under  the  feet  of  the  French  usurper,  no  longer  took  an  independent  part  in  its 
development  ;  only  in  the  time  of  King  Robert,  who  loved  art,  many  important 
works  were  produced  in  this  region  by  artists  invited  from  a  distance.  Art 
was  encouraged  in  Rome  during  the  time  of  Boniface  VIII.  If  the  powers  of 
the  local  artists  were  not  great,  masters  of  the  first  rank  were  attracted  to 
Rome  from  other  parts,  and  once  more  the  Eternal  Cit\'  seemed  about  to 
become  the  rallying-point  of  Italian  life  ;  but  soon  afterwards,  abandoned  by  the 
Papacy,  she  sank  back  into  complete  confusion.  The  true  home  of  art  was  in 
the  Free  States  of  Central  Italy,  and  especially  of  Tuscany.  Florence  came 
first  ;   Siena  next  ;   and  some  of  the  smaller  cities  not  far  behind. 

In  spite  of  faction  and  strife  a  brilliant  revival  of  material  prosperity  had 
set  in.  Careful  administration  and  a  regular  system  of  taxation  furnished  the 
means  for  that  encouragement  of  the  arts  to  which  men  were  inspired  by  the 
ardour  of  their  patriotism.  The  lower  class  of  citizens  had  worked  itself 
upwards.  Industry  and  banking  flourished.  Prosperity  was  followed  by  an 
increase  of  luxury  in  dress  and  manners,  and  at  the  same  time  by  the  noblest 
feeling  for  art,  which  was  shared  alike  by  all  classes  of  citizens.  Next  to  these 
States,  art  found  in  the  cities  of  northern  Italy  its  most  favourable  soil.  Even 
if  here,  as  in  Verona  and  Padua  for  instance,  the  rage  of  parties  had  led  to  the 
subjection  of  the  community  under  a  ruler  proved  in  war,  still  such  a  ruler  was 
accustomed,  even  in  his  own  interests,  to  further  the  prosperity  of  the  citizens. 
Thus  the  patriotism  of  the  city,  even  after  it  had  become  politically  powerless, 
could  still  display  itself  in  the  ideal  sphere.  But  though  Italian  painting  may 
have  been  chiefly  attached  to  certain  local  centres,  it  spoke  a  language  which 
was  understood  by  the  whole  nation,  and  spread  over  its  most  distant  members 
by  the  intercourse  of  provinces  and  cities,  as  well  as  by  the  wanderings  of  the 
artists  themselves.  The  special  artistic  gifts  of  the  Italians,  their  power  of 
enjoyment,  their  attitude  of  independence  towards  authority,  their  capacity  for 
embodying  the  intellectual  in  material  form,  now  announced  themselves  dis- 
tinctly for  the  first  time,  and  led  to  a  development  of  national  art  which  con- 
tinued through  the  course  of  three  centuries. 

I.  CiMABUE  AND  DUCCIO. — Tuscany  assumes,  from  about  A.D.  1250,  its 
new  position  in  the  history  of  Italian  art.  From  that  time  down  to  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  it  is  from  the  free  cities  of  this  jirovincc 
that    the   mo.st   important   and    fruitful   movements   originate.      But   at   fust  the 

3  I 


426  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

advance  manifests  itself  here  in  sculpture  much  more  decisively  than  in  painting. 
Niccola  Pisano,  who  completed  (a.D.  1260)  his  great  work,  the  pulpit  of  the 
Baptistery  at  Pisa,  no  longer  shows  any  trace  of  the  former  Byzantine  influence. 
His  conception  is  based  upon  a  sudden  and  powerful  return  to  the  example  of 
the  antique— of  the  Roman  relief  His  composition  is  crowded,  every  inch  of 
space  is  filled,  the  figures  are  short  and  squat,  the  heads  large  with  typical 
features,  and  the  cast  of  the  drapery  classical.  Far  removed  as  his  work  is 
from  the  earlier  Italian  style,  it  differs  still  more  from  the  northern  Gothic, 
possessing  none  of  its  vehemence,  its  slenderness  in  the  proportions,  its  undulat- 
ing attitudes  or  mannered  courtliness.  The  leading  character  of  his  work  is  a 
cool,  measured,  self-conscious  power. 

In  the  paintings  which  at  the  time  of  Niccola  Pisano  inaugurate  a  revival 
of  the  sister  art,  we  find  no  resemblance  to  his  style,  and  especially  no  leaning 
towards  antiquity.  Painting  advances  with  greater  difficulty,  moving  along  its 
old  track,  and  arriving  only  step  by  step  at  the  formation  of  a  new  and 
independent  style  ;   to  end,  however,  by  then  taking  the  lead  decisively. 

The  earliest  Italian  historians  of  art,  Ghiberti  and  Vasari,  give  a  mythic  turn 
to  their  narratives.^^  According  to  them,  art,  like  everything  else,  had  utterly 
gone  down  in  Italy  with  the  close  of  the  classic  age,  and  was  only  carried  on 
there  by  Greek  immigrants,  who  brought  their  skill  with  them,  but  whose  style 
was  not  that  of  the  ancient  Greeks,  and  whose  figures  were  clumsy  and  coarse. 
The  Italians,  however,  say  these  authorities,  accepted  the  debased  Greek  way 
of  work,  since  they  knew  of  none  better,  until  at  last,  A.D.  1250,  heaven  was 
merciful,  and  people  appeared  who  knew  how  to  distinguish  the  good  from 
the  bad.  Vasari  makes  both  the  sculptor  Niccola  Pisano  and  the  painter 
Cimabue  at  first  followers  of  Greek  masters,  who  wrought  in  their  native 
land,  and  whose  work  they  learnt  first  to  copy  and  afterwards  to  surpass. 
We  now  know  that  this  is  an  imaginary  account ;  that  Greek  artists  could 
hardly  have  been  working  at  Pisa  and  Florence  at  this  time  ;  and  that  in 
general  the  appearance  in  Italy  of  craftsmen  of  Greek  birth  was  confined 
to  brief  periods  and  to  particular  localities,  though  it  is  true  that  between 
direct  and  indirect  influences  a  Byzantine  manner  had  established  itself 
in  Italy.  And  this  style  was  still  maintained,  although  in  the  hands  of 
artists  of  Italian  blood  ;  the  departure  from  it  forms  the  first  step  in  the 
new  development. 

Vasari  begins  his  biographies  with  the  Florentine  Giovanni  Cimabue,  born 
according  to  him  A.D,  1240.  A  still  more  ancient  source  testifies  that  Vasari 
has  given  Cimabue  his  right  place  ;  and  this  is  Dante,  who  mentions  him  as  the 
forerunner  of  Giotto,  and  thereby  gives  occasion  to  his  own  earliest  anonymous 
commentator,  writing  A.D.  1334,  to  make  some  remarks  upon  Cimabue's  fame 
and  ambition.      These  remarks  are  afterwards  quoted  by  Vasari. 

Cimabue  practised    painting   on  wall,    panel,    and    mosaic,   all   three.      His 


MEDL^VAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  427 

principal  existing  works  are  only  assigned  to  him  by  Vasari,  and  not  authenti- 
cated by  inscriptions  or  otherwise.    The}-  consist  of  three  large  Madonnas  on  panel 
with  gold  grounds.      The  most   celebrated  is  that  in  the   chapel  of  the  Rucellai 
family  in  Santa  Maria  Novella  at  Florence.      Maiy  is  enthroned  with  the  Child 
on  her   lap,  at  the  sides  are  six  angels  holding  by  the   throne  ;  the)-  are   on  a 
smaller  scale  than  the  Madonna,  and  arranged  one  above  another  in  a  severely 
symmetrical  and  decorative  way.      Marj^'s  head  is  archaic  and  typical,  with  long 
nose,  narrowly  slit  eyes,  remarkably  small  mouth  and  chin,  and  a  slight  inclina- 
tion of  the  head.      Very  moderate  knowledge   is   shown  in  the  hands  with  their 
long  thin   fingers,   and   in  the   feet   of  the  Child  ;   while  the  feet  of  the  Virgin 
disappear  entirely  under  the   draper}-,  which   is   conventional   but    not   without 
sweep,  ending  below  in  studied    points  and  crinkles.      But  the  whole  is  effective 
from  its  character  of  mild  solemnity,  of  reverential  innocence  in  the  angels,  and 
from  the  attempt   at   natural  movement   in   the  Child  (Fig.  i  1 7).      The  colours 
are  simple,  lively,  and  clear,  in   the   flesh   tints.      The   Byzantine   manner  is  not 
overcome  ;   it   is   but   slightly   modified    by   a   leaning,  personal  to   Cimabue  as 
contrasted  with  Niccola  Pisano,  towards  the  Gothic  taste  in  attitude,  inclination 
of  the   head,  expression,  and   drapery  ;  and    here   and   there   by  a   timid   effort 
after  nature.      The  two  other  pictures,  which   have   suffered   severely,  arc   quite 
similar   in   composition  ;    that    in   the    Louvre  was   formerly   in    the   church   of 
S.  Francis  at  Pisa  ;  it  still  has  medallions  of  twenty-four  saints  in  the  frame  ;  the 
other  from  the  church  of  the  Trinity  in   Florence,  and   now  in  the  Academy 
there,  has  on  each  side  four  angels  instead  of  three,  and  underneath  the  busts 
of  four  prophets. 

For  Cimabue's  achievements  in  wall-painting  we  must  turn  to  Assisi,  which 
was  one  of  the  most  important  centres  of  activity  for  Italian  artists  at  this 
time.  Two  years  after  the  death  of  S.  Francis  {d.  A.D.  1226)  a  memorial  monas- 
tery church  was  begun  at  his  native  Assisi,  on  the  desolate  place  of  execution 
outside  the  town,  which  he  had  chosen  for  his  grave.  This  is  the  first  known 
monument  of  the  Gothic  style  in  Italy,  and  after  it  was  consecrated  A.i).  1253, 
its  decoration  in  every  part  with  wall-paintings  was  carried  on  through  many 
years,  the  means  being  furnished  by  pious  offerings.  Here  the  most  famous 
painters  of  the  age  in  Italy  competed.  First,  according  to  Vasari,  Cimabue 
executed,  in  conjunction  with  certain  Greek  masters  (which  we  ma\'  take  to 
mean  masters  of  the  old  style),  some  of  the  ceilings  of  that  gloomy,  sepulchral, 
low-vaulted  building,  the  Lower  Church.  In  the  north  transept  there  remain 
by  his  hand,  among  later  pictures,  a  Madonna  with  four  angels.  But  wo  find 
the  work  of  Cimabue  in  a  more  connected  form  in  the  Upper  Church,  which  is 
carried  on  the  Lower,  and  is  of  a  cruciform  shape  with  a  single  nave  in  a  fully 
developed  Gothic  style,  and  with  light  free  proportions.  Vasari  sees  in  the 
painting  of  this  church  the  creations  of  Cimabue  only;  but  this  opinion  may 
at  any  rate  be  qualified  in  one  particular,  as  there  exists  in  part  of  the  church 


428 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


a  series  of  pictures  evidently  older,  and  in  the  manner  of  the  first  half  of  the 
thirteenth  century  ;   particularly  the  large  Crucifixion  in  the  south  transept,  and 


Fig.  117. 


the  pictures  from  the  legend  of  Mary  at  the  end  of  the  choir  no  less.  The 
remains  of  a  Last  Judgment  m  the  north  transept  are  much  more  like  the 
work  of  Cimabue,  but  they  are  in  too  bad  a  state  to  admit  of  a  decided 
opmion. 

But  in  the  vaulting  and   on  the  walls  of  the  nave  we   find,  with  the  excep- 


MEDL-EVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  429 

tion  of  the  lowest  band  of  pictures,  which  are  by  Giotto,  a  connected  scheme 
bound  together  in  severe  decorative  harmony,  so  that  about  this  part  of  Vasari's 
statement  there  is  no  room  for  doubt.  The  bays  of  the  nave,  including  that 
formed  by  its  intersection  with  the  transept,  are  five  in  number  ;  and  the  vault- 
ings of  only  three  of  these  are  decorated  with  pictures,  the  intermediate  two 
being  set  with  gold  stars  on  a  blue  ground.  The  eastern  bay  contains  the  four 
Evangelists  receiving  their  inspiration  from  angels  ;  the  central  bay  four  medal- 
lions, with  heads  of  Christ,  Mary,  John  the  Baptist,  and  Francis;  and  the  western 
— of  which  the  subjects  are  the  most  freely  conceived — the  four  Leathers  of  the 
Church,  with  monks  transcribing  their  words.  Then  follow  the  two  upper 
courses  of  pictures  on  the  walls  of  the  nave  ;  each  course  presents  in  each  bay 
two  pictures,  on  the  wall-surfaces  to  right  and  left  of  the  narrow  pointed  window 
(on  the  west  wall,  of  the  great  wheel  window).  On  the  south  wall  is  illustrated 
the  book  of  Genesis  as  far  as  the  story  of  Joseph,  and  on  the  north  wall  the 
Gospel  history.  This  last  terminates  on  the  lower  course  of  the  west  wall  with 
the  Ascension  and  the  Outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  above  which  are  the  figures 
of  Peter  and  Paul.  Of  these  thirty-six  pictures  many  are  quite  destroyed,  others 
faded  and  grievously  injured.  What  can  still  be  distinguished  shows  the  same 
style  in  the  types  of  the  heads,  extremities,  and  drapery,  as  that  of  the  panels 
already  mentioned;  only  the  treatment,  as  follows  naturally  from  the  scope  of 
the  undertaking,  is  much  slighter  and  more  decorative.  But  while  in  those 
devotional  pictures  Cimabue  seems  still  constrained,  he  finds  an  opportunity 
here  for  a  freer  exercise  of  his  power.  Clear  arrangement  and  just  feeling  for 
space  are  joined  to  a  directness  in  the  motives  which  breaks  through  the  old 
rigidity,  and  a  liveliness  in  the  affection  expressed  which  speaks  directly  to  the 
imagination.  Here  we  look  upon  the  real  first  step  towards  the  further  devel- 
opment of  Tuscan  art. 

Vasari  erroneously  places  the  death  of  Cimabue  in  A.D.  1300,  whereas  in 
A.D.  1 30 1  and  1302  he  was  still  engaged  upon  the  mosaic  in  the  apse  of  the 
Cathedral  at  Pisa,  the  only  work  well  authenticated  as  his  by  original  documents, 
and  probably  his  last.**"  The  enthroned  Saviour,  for  whom  in  this  monumental 
mosaic  the  artist  maintains  the  old  austerely  solemn  type,  and  the  gentler  figure 
of  the  Evangelist  John,  are  the  work  of  Cimabue  himself  The  Mary  on  the 
other  side   of  Christ   was   only   added   later   (.\.D.    1321),    by  one   Vincinus   of 

Pistoia. 

Other  contemporary  Plorentines  remained  behind  Cimabue;  as  Copp<i  di 
Marcovaldo,  who  executed  the  Madonna  dated  .\.i).  1261,  and  dedicated  by  the 
Bordone  family,  in  Santa  Maria  dei  Servi  at  Siena.  The  largest  and 
finest  work  of  this  period  in  Florence  itself  is  the  great  mo.saic  in  the  liome 
of  the  Baptistery,  in  which  Vasari  assigns  a  .share  to  Andrea  Tafi  (who  was 
still  alive  A.I).  1320;.  The  topmost  circle  contains  Christ  standing  among 
the  aiiyclic  choirs  ;   then  follow,  in  three  eastern  compartments  of  the  octagonal 


430  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

dome,  the  Last  Judgment,  with  a  gigantic  figure  of  Christ  enthroned  above  the 
choir  arch,  and  also  Paradise  and  Hell.  The  five  remaining  compartments  are 
covered  with  four  rows  of  narrative  pictures  from  the  Old  and  New  Testaments. 
A  gold  ground,  and  copious  use  of  gold  in  the  draperies,  enhance  the  richness  of 
the  effect,  but  the  style  is  altogether  Byzantine.  Another  mosaic  of  the  same 
period  in  Florence — the  Coronation  of  the  Virgin  in  the  interior  lunette  above 
the  entrance  of  the  cathedral  (attributed  by  Vasari  to  Gaddo  Gaddi,  who  was 
still  living  A.D.  1333) — exhibits  the  same  archaic  character,  already  a  little 
touched  by  the  influence  of  Cimabue. 

Among  painters  of  other  cities  should  be  mentioned  Margaritone  of  Arezzo, 
by  whom  there  exist  a  few  signed  pictures,  the  most  important  being  a  Madonna 
in  the  National  Gallery,  from  the  church  of  S.  Margaret  at  Arezzo  ;  also  Guido 
of  Siena,  whose  Madonna  in  the  church  of  S.  Dominic  at  Siena  was  probably 
painted  A.D.  1281.*^' 

But  there  appeared  in  Siena  at  the  same  time  a  master  who  may  well  take 
his  place  by  the  side  of  Cimabue.  This  was  Duccio,  the  son  of  Buoninsegna, 
of  whom  we  hear  for  the  first  time  by  documentary  records  A.D.  1282,  and 
for  the  last  time  A.D.  1320.  Ghiberti  even  in  his  day  wrote  the  praises  of 
Duccio.  His  famous  altar  for  the  Cathedral  of  Siena  was  begun  A.D.  i  308,  and 
on  its  completion  three  years  later,  was  carried,  like  the  Rucellai  altar-piece  of 
Cimabue,  from  the  workshop  to  the  church  in  solemn  procession  to  the  sound 
of  trumpet  and  drum  and  bell.^^  It  now  stands  divided  and  robbed  of  its 
original  settings,  in  two  side  chapels  of  the  Cathedral  choir.  The  centre  picture 
(Fig.  I  I  8)  represents  the  Madonna  and  Child  surrounded  by  twenty  angels,  of 
whom  those  standing  nearest  to  the  throne  lean  on  it  with  a  charming  feeling, 
and  by  six  saints  and  four  patrons  of  the  city  on  their  knees.  Over  this 
comes  a  border  with  busts  of  the  Apostles.  The  back  of  the  altar  (which 
has  been  sawn  in  two  in  its  thickness,  so  that  back  and  front  are  now 
detached)  contains  twenty-six  scenes  from  the  Passion  in  four  courses,  with 
seven  compartments  in  each  course,  only  that  two  scenes  —  the  entry  into 
Jerusalem  and  the  Crucifixion — are  larger  than  the  rest,  and  take  up  two 
courses.  There  are  also  to  be  seen  in  the  sacristy  eighteen  small  pictures, 
which  once  formed  the  predellas  of  both  sides  and  the  cresting  of  the  back  of 
the  altar-piece.  These  consist  of  six  scenes  from  the  childhood  of  Christ,  six 
from  the  incidents  after  the  Resurrection,  six  from  the  closing  part  of  the  legend 
of  Mary,  from  the  announcement  of  her  death  to  her  burial. 

Duccio  has  adhered  to  Byzantine  types  and  motives,  but  has  ennobled  them 
by  more  pleasing  proportions  and  a  better  execution  of  the  hands  and  feet.  In 
spite  of  the  archaic  type  with  the  long  nose,  we  find  already  in  the  countenance 
of  the  Madonna  a  certain  charm  which  Cimabue  had  not  compassed.  The  face 
of  the  Child  no  longer  wears  the  look  of  age,  but  rivals  Cimabue's  own  in  its 
really   childlike    expression.      The    faces,   indeed,  often   show  some  approach  to 


MEDIAEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD. 


431 


classical  models,  especially  in  their  fine  oval  shapes  and  full  symmetrical 
mouths.  The  eyes  are  not  too  narrow,  but  receive  something  of  a  pensive  and 
tenderly  pathetic  expression  by  a  slight  drawing  up  of  the  under  lid.  Duccio 
surpasses  all  Italian  painters  of  his  time  in  his  feeling  for  ideal  beauty.  In 
narrative  pictures  it  is  evident  that  he  depends  upon  earlier  models  ;  the  fulness 
of  detail,  the  constant  recurrence  of  closely  allied   incidents,  causes  a  frequent 


Fig.  118 


repetition  of  the  same  situations.  Full  dramatic  power  Duccio  diti  not  possess. 
His  motives  are  often  timid  and  constrained  where  we  look  for  resolute  action. 
Still  the  subjects  are  independently  thought  out,  and  cvcrj-wherc  we  find  heads 
and  gestures  full  of  deep  feeling  and  expressiveness.  Hence  his  iiuictcr  .scenes, 
like  the  liurial  of  the  Virgin,  often  produce  the  most  effect.  The  grouping  is 
simple  and  artless  ;  but  looks  of  the  most  inward  grief  are  given  t<>  the  Apostles 
as  they  tenderly  lay  the  corp.se  into  the  sarcophagus,  and  bow  themselves  over 
it    in    affliction  ;   the   background    is   formed   of  rocks   betwci!!!    detached    trees 


432 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


(Fig.  1 19).      What  strikes  us  first  in  Duccio's  handling  is  the  green  tone  of  his 
preparation  in  the  flesh  parts,  which  has   now  in  most  places  come  too   strongly 


ta 


through.  His  brush-work  is  characterised  by  careful  fusion,  with  the  highest 
degree  of  ornamental  daintiness,  and  almost  painful  elaboration.  Scarcely  any 
Florentine  can  rival  him  in  loving  and  painstaking  execution. 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  433 

Segna  and  Ugolino  of  Siena  were  disciples  of  Duccio.  Signed  examples 
by  the  former  are  four  joined  panels  with  half-length  figures  of  the  Madonna  and 
three  saints  in  the  Siena  Gallery  ;  and  a  Madonna  with  angels,  besides  donors 
and  their  patron  saints,  in  the  church  of  Castiglione  Fiorentino  near  Arezzo. 
The  manner  of  Duccio  is  here  carried  to  an  exaggerated  pitch  of  studied 
daintiness.  This  Ugolino  is  probably  identical  with  Ugolino  Neri,  who  appears 
in  documents  at  Siena  about  a.d.  i  3  i  7.  He  was  much  employed  for  Florence, 
and  executed  a  picture  for  the  high  altar  of  S.  Crocc,  a  number  of  the  panels 
belonging  to  which  were  once  brought  together  in  Young  Ottley's  collection  in 
London,  but  have  since  then  been  scattered  among  various  private  owners.  It 
was  formed  of  seven  vertical  compartments.  On  the  predella  were  scenes  from 
the  Passion,  beginning  with  the  Last  Supper  and  ending  with  the  Resurrection. 
Under  the  central  scene,  the  Bearing  of  the  Cross,  was  the  artist's  signature  in  full. 
In  the  principal  division  were  heads  of  saints  and  the  Madonna  in  the  centre  ; 
over  this  a  frieze  with  small  heads.  In  the  following  course  came  saints  in 
pairs,  chiefly  Apostles,  and  lastly,  gable-shaped  panels  with  half-lengths  of 
saints.  While  Ugolino  follows  Duccio  entirely  in  the  oval  of  the  heads, 
well-shaped  mouths,  and  sharply-folded  drapery,  he  is  already  more  flowing  in 
his  processes.  His  forms  are  fuller,  and  in  the  predella  especially  his  concep- 
tion is  often  free  and  dramatic, 

II.  Roman  Mosaics. — Along  with  the  schools  of  Tuscany  there  was  also, 
on  the  confines  of  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  a  school  of  some 
temporary  importance  at  Rome,  where  the  art  of  mosaic  still  continued  to  exist 
in  connection  with  the  old  indigenous  tradition,  and  was  slightly  modified  by 
the  altered  tendencies  of  the  time. 

In  Santa  Maria  in  Trastevere,  beneath  the  semi -dome  of  the  tribune 
already  described,  there  extends  a  series  of  six  scenes  from  the  life  of  the 
Virerin,  and  somewhat  lower  the  series  finds  its  conclusion  in  a  circular  mosaic 
under  the  middle  window  of  the  apse,  representing  Mary  with  the  Child, 
and  below  them  Peter  and  Paul,  the  former  of  whom  presents  the  donor,  Bcr- 
tholdus  Stefaneschi.  This  work  was  probably  completed  A.D,  1291,  The  state- 
ment of  Ghiberti  and  Vasari  that  its  author  was  named  Pietro  Cavallini  is  con- 
firmed by  a  P.  in  the  frame  of  the  last  picture.  Otherwise  all  that  Vasari 
says  about  the  master  is  erroneous.  He  assigns  him  an  entirely  wrong  histori- 
cal position  as  a  follower  of  Giotto.  The  more  modern  theory  which  makes 
him  a  pupil  of  the  Cosmati  is  equally  without  substantial  proof.  The  author  of 
these  mosaics  shows  himself  really  a  painter,  not  exclusively  a  worker  in  marble 
and  decorator.  He  starts  from  the  older  Byzantine  style,  but  contrives  to  add 
a  certain  nobility  to  the  types,  motives,  and  composition.  All  that  uc  know 
besides  of  Pietro  Cavallini  is,  that  in  A.D.  1308  he  was  in  the  royal  service  at 
Naples,  where,  however,  every  trace  of  his  work  has  disappeared.*" 

3  K 


434  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

At  the  same  time  the  art  of  mosaic  was  being  practised  at  Rome  by  a 
workman  of  unknown  origin,  Jacobus  Torriti,  This,  according  to  an  inscrip- 
tion, was  the  master  who  decorated  the  apses  of  the  Lateran  and  Santa  Mai'ia 
Maggiore  under  Pope  Nicolas  IV.  (a.d.  i  288-1  292).  In  the  former  has  been  let 
in  a  circle  with  a  bust  of  Christ,  taken  from  an  earlier  mosaic  ;  under  it  is  the 
Cross  upon  a  hill,  with  the  four  rivers  of  Paradise,  at  which  animals  are  drink- 
ing. At  the  sides  are  eight  saints,  and  the  figure  of  the  Pope  on  a  small  scale. 
Below  these,  and  connected  with  them,  are  other  mosaics  in  a  somewhat  more 
archaic  style  ;  several  figures  of  Apostles  near  the  windows,  and  at  their  feet 
two  Franciscan  monks,  one  with  a  builder's  compass  and  a  rule,  the  other  with  a 
hammer,  and  an  inscription  identifying  him  as  Brother  Jacobus  de  Camerino, 
assistant  of  the  master-builder,  so  that  these  works  also  belong,  most  prob- 
ably, to  the  time  of  the  rebuilding  of  the  church  under  Nicolas  IV.  The  style 
of  Torriti  may  be  more  distinctively  realised  in  the  better-preserved  mosaic 
of  Sa7ita  Maria  Maggiore,  which  was  not  completed,  according  to  the  inscrip- 
tion, until  A.D.  1295.  The  middle  circle  contains  a  Virgin  crowned  by  Christ, 
who  is  enthroned  beside  her.  At  each  side  are  two  groups  of  angels  alternating 
with  three  saints,  before  whom,  and  on  a  smaller  scale,  kneel  Pope  Nicolas  IV. 
and  Cardinal  Giacomo  Colonna  as  donors.  The  lower  course  on  the  wall  of  the 
apse  contains  five  scenes  from  the  legend  of  the  Virgin,  and  on  either  side  of 
the  arch  Matthew  and  Jerome.  The  large  picture  especially  shows  none  of  the 
advances  made  by  contemporary  artists  on  the  old  traditional  style,  which  is 
reproduced  here  in  poor  and  timid  movements  and  forms,  for  which  a  certain 
tenderness  of  expression  in  the  Mary  is  scarcely  a  sufficient  compensation. 
Torriti  remains  too  much  cramped  by  precedent  ;  he  preserves  from  the  earlier 
style  its  ornamental  opulence  as  well  as  other  things,  its  rich  borders,  the  grace- 
ful wreaths  of  foliage  with  birds  which  fill  every  available  space  in  the  vaultings, 
and  the  feature  of  a  lower  border  to  the  picture  in  the  semi-dome  ;  this  here 
recalls  the  early  Christian  treatment  of  the  same  feature  in  the  now  perished 
mosaic  of  the  dome  of  S.  Costanza,  and  represents  a  river,  on  each  margin 
of  which  reposes  a  river-god  ;  the  waters  are  alive  with  boats  and  fish,  while 
animals  of  all  kinds  enliven  the  banks.^*^ 

About  the  same  time  was  undertaken  the  mosaic  decoration  of  the  facade 
in  the  same  church,  which  is  now  built  into  a  Baroque  porch,  and  disfigured  by 
windows  broken  into  it.  In  a  circle,  which  also  contains  the  artist's  name, 
Philippus  Rusuti,  sits  Christ  enthroned  and  surrounded  by  four  angels  with 
incense-burners  and  tapers  ;  at  ths  sides  stand  eight  saints,  and  over  them  are 
symbols  of  the  Evangelists.  The  two  lesser  figures  of  the  donors.  Cardinals 
Giacomo  and  Pietro  Colonna,  have  perished.  There  is  rather  more  life  in  the 
movements,  but  the  work  is  not  essentially  better  than  that  of  Torriti.  But 
there  is  still  one  more  tier  of  pictures  below  these,  containing  four  scenes  from 
the  legend   of  the   foundation  of  the   Basilica  Liberiana  :   the  Virgin  appearing 


MEDLEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  435 

to  Pope  Liberius  and  to  the  patrician  John  in  a  dream  ;  the  latter  discovering 
his  face  to  the  Pope  ;  Liberius  drawing  the  ground-plan  of  the  church  in  the 
snow  which  has  miraculously  fallen.  These  four  motives  are  developed  with 
lively  and  speaking  action,  although  the  limbs  are  structurally  rather  weak. 
Rich  and  splendidly  coloured  architectural  devices,  such  as  we  shall  soon  find 
in  the  work  of  the  next  generation  of  Florentines,  appear  everj'where.  Beauti- 
ful marble-mosaic  in  the  style  of  the  Cosmati  divides  the  subjects  from  one 
another  laterally  and  above.      A  new  epoch  already  announces  itself  here.^^ 

Naples  possesses  a  grievously  injured  mosaic,  belonging  to  the  beginning  of 
the  fourteenth  century,  in  a  chapel  of  the  Church  of  S.  Restituta  next  the 
Cathedral  ;  it  represents  the  Madonna  with  S.  Januarius  and  S.  Restituta. 
According  to  the  inscription,  this  mosaic  appears  to  have  been  the  work  of 
one  Lellus. 

III.  Giotto. — The  opinion  which  his  contemporaries  entertained  of  Giotto 
as  the  greatest  genius  in  the  arts  which  Italy  in  that  age  possessed,  has  been 
perpetuated  by  Dante  in  the  lines  in  which  the  illuminator,  Oderigi,  says  : — 

In  painting  Cimabue  fain  had  thought 

To  lord  the  field  ;  now  Giotto  has  the  cry, 
So  that  the  other's  fame  in  shade  is  brought. 

Dante,  Purg.  xi.  93. 

Giotto  di  Bondone  was  born  at  Del  Colle,  a  village  in  the  commune  of  Vespig- 
nano  near  Florence,  according  to  Vasari  A.D.  i  276,  but  more  probably  A.I),  i  266. 
He  went  through  his  apprenticeship  under  Cimabue,  and  practised  as  a  painter 
and  architect  not  only  in  Florence,  but  in  various  parts  of  Italy,  in  free  cities 
as  well  as  in  the  courts  of  princes;  first  of  all  at  Assisi,  then  about  A.D.  i  298-1  300 
at  Rome  ;  about  A.D.  i  303-1  306  in  Padua,  and  also  at  Rimini  ;  and  in  the  years 
between  A.D.  i  330-1  333  at  Naples,  in  the  service  of  King  Robert,  who  conferred 
upon  him  (January  30,  1330)  the  honours  and  privileges  of  a  member  of  the 
royal  hou.sehold.  On  April  12,  1334,  Giotto  was  appointed  by  the  civic 
authorities  of  Florence  chief  master  of  the  cathedral  works,  the  city  forti- 
fications, and  all  public  architectural  undertakings,  in  an  instrument  of  which 
the  wording  constitutes  the  most  affectionate  homage  to  the  "  great  and  dear 
master."      Giotto  died  January  8,  1337.^'- 

It  was  not  only  the  artist  in  Giotto,  but  the  whole  man,  that  impressed  the 
minds  of  his  contemporaries.  He  was  praised  by  Petrarch  as  well  as  Dante, 
and  in  the  novels  of  Boccaccio  and  Franco  Sacchetti  he  plays  the  part  of  a 
character  familiar  to  every  one,  unprepossessing  and  even  ugly  in  appearance, 
but  full  of  wit  and  practical  readiness.  Anecdotes  and  saj-ings  gather  carl\- 
ab(jut  his  name,  and  even  before  A.D.  1312  the  chronicler  Riccobaldo,  and  after 
him  Villani,  mention  him  with  all  honour.^''"' 

To  the  outset  of  Giotto's  career  belong  the  twenty-eight  pictures  in  the  Upper 


436  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

Church  at  Assisi,  extending  under  the  windows,  and  the  series  of  pictures  by 
Cimabue.  Vasari  mentions  Fra  Giovanni  di Miiro  della  Marca,  appointed  General 
of  the  Franciscan  order  A.D.  i  296,  as  having  occasioned  the  call  of  Giotto  to  this 
undertaking.  Beside  the  time-honoured  stories  from  Genesis  and  the  Gospels 
painted  by  Cimabue  himself,  appears  the  legend  of  the  new  saint,  Francis  of 
Assisi,  which  from  henceforth  becomes  a  constantly  recurring  subject  in  art.  The 
first  pictures,  with  stories  from  his  youth,  acts  of  beneficence,  reverence  paid  him 
by  the  poor,  and  visions,  are  followed  by  the  dramatic  scene  in  which  the  young 
Francis  parts  from  his  father,  when  the  latter  indicts  him  for  having  sold  his 
goods  and  given  the  money  to  build  a  church  ;  the  young  man  lays  his  clothes 
at  his  father's  feet,  and  turning  away  poor  and  naked  is  sheltered  by  the  bishop 
in  his  mantle.  Next,  Pope  Innocent  III.  sees  in  a  dream  the  homely  brother 
upholding  the  tottering  church  of  the  Lateran,  and  upon  this  sanctions  the 
rules  of  his  order.  Then  follow  miracles  and  visions  ;  the  driving  out  of  the 
devils;  the  trial  by  fire  before  the  Soldan;  the  miraculous  springing  up  of  a  well; 
the  preaching  to  the  birds,  and  later  the  sermon  before  the  Pope  ;  the  receiving 
of  the  stigmata — here  S.  Francis  is  on  a  lonely  mountain  top,  a  seraph  appears 
and  imprints  the  wounds  of  Christ  upon  him  ;  lastly  come  the  death  of  the 
Saint,  his  canonisation  and  his  posthumous  miracles.  The  legend  is  impressive 
and  full  of  poetical  and  thoroughly  dramatic  features  which  seize  upon  the 
artist's  imagination  ;  but  it  is  also  full  of  sentimentality,  and  not  without 
strange,  repulsive,  and  scarcely  paintable  episodes.  The  subject,  moreover, 
was  new,  and  not  yet  consecrated  by  the  tradition  of  centuries;  the  artist  had 
to  find  his  own  way  in  it.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Giotto  worked 
with  assistants,  but  the  present  condition  of  the  pictures  makes  it  almost 
impossible  to  give  an  opinion  as  to  the  actual  hands  engaged  on  them. 
But  that  Giotto  was  the  author  and  director  of  the  work  as  a  whole  there  is 
no  good  reason  to  doubt.^*  The  several  pictures  are  more  or  less  satisfactory 
according  as  their  subjects  suited  the  individual  genius  of  the  master.  In  many 
of  the  earlier  as  well  as  in  the  later  members  of  this  series,  may  be  recognised 
types  and  traits  corresponding  with  those  of  his  great  authenticated  works  in 
the  Arena  at  Padua,  and  especially  his  peculiar  completeness  of  dramatic 
presentation  and  blunt  sincerity  of  detail.  The  fifth  picture,  representing  the 
parting  of  Francis  from  his  father,  is  an  example  of  this.  In  the  fourteenth, 
the  miracle  of  the  spring,  Vasari  justly  praises  the  admirably  natural  expression 
of  thirst  in  the  man  stooping  down  to  drink.  The  seventeenth,  the  preaching 
before  Pope  Honorius  III.  and  his  cardinals,  shows  the  most  lifelike  expression 
of  mental  tension. 

Similar  to  these  are  the  works  in  Rome,  where  Giotto  practised  his  art  in 
the  latter  years  of  the  thirteenth  century  The  pictures  in  the  tribune  of  the 
original  S.  Peter's,  ascribed  to  him  by  Vasari,  have  perished.  But  from  a 
Necrologiiun  in  the  Vatican  archives,^^  it  appears  that  Cardinal  Giacomo  Gaetano 


MEDIAEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  437 

Stefaneschi  (brother  of  the  Bertholdus  whom  we  found  ordering  the  mosaics  by 
CavalHni)  commissioned  Giotto  to  execute  the  mosaic  of  the  Navicella,  with 
the  disciples  in  the  ship  and  Peter  walking  on  the  sea,  which  is  now  in  the 
portico  of  S.  Peter's,  so  much  restored  that  it  is  worth  no  more  than  a  bad 
copy.  For  the  same  cardinal  Giotto  painted  an  altar-piece  to  be  placed  in  S. 
Peter's.  This  is  now  preserved  in  the  Stanza  Capitolare  of  the  sacristy,  and 
confirms  Vasari's  words,  that  it  was  the  most  carefully  executed  of  all  his  paint- 
ings. In  the  centre  appears  the  cardinal  before  the  Saviour,  who  is  surrounded 
by  angels  ;  at  the  sides  are  the  martyrdoms  of  Peter  and  Paul,  and  on  what 
was  formerly  the  back  of  the  panel  Peter  is  enthroned  with  saints,  two  bishops 
in  adoration,  and  the  donor  below  ;  on  the  sides  are  four  Apostles,  There  are 
besides  a  number  of  accessory  subjects  let  into  the  gables  and  borders,  as  well 
as  fragments  of  a  predella  with  a  Madonna,  In  the  church  of  the  Lateran  all 
that  remains  by  the  hand  of  Giotto  is  a  badly-preserved  fragment,  built  into  a 
pillar,  of  a  wall-painting  originally  executed  in  the  loggia  of  the  Lateran 
palace.      The  subject  is  Boniface  VIII.  proclaiming  the  Jubilee  A.D.  1300. 

Next  in  chronological  order  among  the  works  of  Giotto  is  usually  placed 
the  ruined  set  of  wall-paintings  in  the  Palazzo  del  Podesta  at  Florence,  with 
the  famous  portraits  of  Dante  and  his  contemporaries.  But  recent  researches  "*' 
seem  to  have  proved  conclusively  that  these  works  were  only  painted  after 
Giotto's  death,  viz.  in  A.D.  1337.  We  therefore  proceed  to  the  work  by  which 
we  can.  now  most  completely  judge  of  the  genius  of  the  master — the  Cappella 
deir  Arena  at  Padua,  so  called  because  the  chapel  stands  on  the  site  of  the  ancient 
amphitheatre.  The  building  was  founded  and  completed  A.D.  i  303  by  a  rich 
Paduan  burgher,  Enrico  degli  Scrovegni.  A  fourteenth-century  commentator 
of  Dante,  Benvenuto  da  Imola,  says  that  Dante  visited  the  master  while  this  work- 
was  going  on,  and  was  honourably  received  by  him  and  taken  into  his  house. 
Now  Dante's  stay  in  Padua  is  ascertained  to  have  taken  place  A.D.  1306.'^" 

With  the  exception  of  the  choir,  which  exhibits  only  later  paintings,  the 
whole  (jf  this  churcii,  consisting  of  a  single  nave,  is  decorated  by  Giotto  alone. 
The  vaulting  is  adorned  with  medallions  containing  busts  of  Christ,  Mary,  and 
prophets.  On  the  walls  of  the  nave  and  on  the  choir  arch  are  thirt\"-eight 
pictures  in  three  tiers,  which  relate  the  legend  of  Mary,  beginning  from  the 
rejection  of  Joachim's  offering  to  the  miraculous  events  of  her  birth,  and  also 
the  story  of  the  Gospel  down  to  the  Outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  In  the 
broad  and  beautiful  borders  are  inserted  a  number  of  very  small  pictures,  wliich 
complete  the  subjects  of  the  larger  ones.  Among  these  arc  some  from  the 
New  Testament,  but  the  majority  are  taken  from  the  Okl,  ami  chosen  for  their 
significance  as  types.  Thus  we  sec  the  Translation  of  l-'lias  bcsitie  the  Ascen- 
sion of  Christ.  Motives  from  the  Physiologns  also  appear,  as  the  hon  bringing 
his  young  to  life  with  his  breath  ;  next  the  angels  at  the  tonil),  and  llic  risen 
Saviour  appearing  to  the  Magdalene.      The  lower  frieze  contains   fourteen   per- 


438  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

sonifications  of  the  Virtues  and  Vices,  done  in  grisaille.  In  its  traditional 
place  on  the  wall  nearest  to  the  entrance,  we  find  the  great  composition  of  the 
Last  Judgment,  in  the  foreground  of  which  is  also  to  be  seen  the  donor 
kneeling,  with  the  model  of  the  church.  The  whole  system  of  Christian  doc- 
trine according  to  the  ideas  of  the  Middle  Age  is  therefore  here  expressed  in 
one  connected  scheme  of  church  interior  decoration. 

This  great  and  tolerably  well-preserved  cycle  of  paintings  affords  the  best 
opportunity  for  a  thorough  analysis  of  Giotto's  style.  He  shows  himself,  in 
the  first  place,  a  master  of  monumental  painting,  in  his  command  of  vast  wall- 
surfaces,  in  his  power  to  preserve  a  quiet  and  harmonious  rhythm  in  design 
and  arrangement  as  well  as  colour,  and  in  all  that  tends  to  produce  a  general 
unity  of  decorative  effect.  Of  the  subjects  themselves  —  religious  pictures 
and  personifications  alike — the  choice  and  order  were  prescribed  to  him.  His 
style  does  not  transcend  the  limits  of  his  age.  The  heads  and  bodies  are  typical 
rather  than  individual,  although  they  differ  considerably  alike  from  the  pure 
Byzantine  manner,  and  from  that  manner  as  severally  modified  in  the  tenderer 
forms  and  pictures  of  Cimabue,  or  in  the  nobler  proportions  and  more  pensive 
expressions  of  Duccio.  In  Giotto's  work  the  heads  are  stronger,  with  a  greater 
squareness  and  prominence  of  jaw,  without  the  graceful  oval  of  his  predeces- 
sors. Kis  mouths,  like  theirs,  are  small,  and  his  eyes  narrow,  and  often  not  set 
quite  on  the  same  level.  The  faces  are  alike,  except  for  the  differences  of  sex 
and  age,  each  age  being  represented  by  its  established  type.  Occasionally,  as 
in  the  Last  Judgment,  appear  more  individual  faces,  but  these  are  exceptional. 
The  bodies  still  show  a  want  of  independent  study  of  nature  ;  the  proportions 
of  the  several  members  (as  we  know  by  the  Handbook  of  Cennino  hereafter 
to  be  mentioned)  were  regulated  by  a  fixed  system  of  measurements.  The 
hands  are  still  long,  and  their  structure  imperfectly  understood  ;  the  feet  are 
weak,  and  generally  disappear  under  the  drapery.  The  drawing  is  still,  on  the 
whole,  conventional,  and  the  modelling  not  carried  far. 

A  striking  advance,  however,  shows  itself  in  the  drapery.  The  laboured 
and  mechanical  imitation  of  the  antique  cast,  with  small  folds  as  of  wetted 
tissue,  which  was  proper  to  the  Byzantine  manner,  is  abandoned,  as  well  as  the 
studied  sweep  and  fidgety  pointed  terminations  familiar  to  Cimabue.  Giotto 
designs  his  drapery  in  broad,  picturesque  masses,  terminating  below  in  almost 
straight  lines,  but  full  of  linear  beauty.  And  although  these  draperies  may  not 
indicate  the  structure  of  the  body  in  detail,  still  they  distinctly  echo  its  move- 
ments. For  the  personages  of  sacred  tradition  the  antique  ideal  dress  prevails, 
and  the  costumes  of  the  day  do  not  appear  so  often  as  in  northern  art. 
Animals  are  rendered  in  a  wooden,  mechanical  way,  with  weak  movements,  and 
much  too  small  in  proportion  to  the  human  figures  ;  the  artist  not  having  painted 
them  for  their  own  sakes,  but  only  as  so  many  accessories  required  for  clearly 
exhibiting  some  action  (Fig.  120). 


MEDIAEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD. 


439 


In  composition  Giotto  always  avoided  complicated  recession  of  planes, 
thereby  contriving  not  to  ask  too  much  from  the  limited  sense  of  perspective 
enjoyed  by  his  age.  Without  aiming  at  conventional  beauty  of  line,  his  contours 
are  effective  by  their  precision  and  expression  of  character.  The  locality  is 
everywhere  indicated  by  rocks  and  trees  much  alike  in  shape,  which  look  like 


Fig.  1 20. 

toys  cut  out  of  paper  ;  or  else  by  set  pieces  of  symbolic  architecture.  A  roof 
carried  on  thin  staves  stands  for  a  room,  a  canopy  over  a  flight  of  steps  for  a 
temple,  and  so  forth.  Such  expedients  were  all  the  master  needed  to  bring  before 
the  eye  the  locality  of  an  action  ;  diminutive  as  the  landscape  and  architectural 
features  so  introduced  might  be,  as  compared,  according  to  any  true  scale  of 
proportion,  with  the  human  figures  in  the  scene.  Like  the  Northern  artists  of 
the  fourteenth  century,  Giotto  was  careful  with  the  detail  of  the  buildings  intro- 
duced in  his  pictures,  representing  them  of  rich  materials  and  colour,  and  with  an 


440  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

attempt  at  perspective ;  though  in  this  last  point,  having  only  uncertain  feeling  and 
no  scientific  knowledge  to  guide  him  in  the  conduct  of  his  lines,  he  did  not  keep 
to  any  single  point  of  sight  or  reach  more  than  approximate  correctness.  All 
the  rest  of  the  space  is  filled  with  the  simple  blue  background  usual  in  the 
mural  paintings  of  the  Middle  Age  ;  while  for  mosaics,  panels,  and  miniatures, 
Giotto  and  his  contemporaries  still  retained  the  use  of  the  gold  ground. 

A  limited  scale  of  colour  prevails,  which  becomes,  however,  clearer  and 
more  durable  by  the  adoption  of  the  process  of  fresco,  into  the  nature  of  which 
we  shall  presently  inquire.  In  each  single  colour  there  are  but  few  gradations 
from  light  to  dark,  nor  is  there  any  question  of  strong  effects  of  light  and  shade  ; 
everything  is  kept  in  a  light  and  equable  harmony.  The  method  is  that  of  filling 
in  outlines  (always  left  to  tell  as  such)  with  colours,  the  choice  of  which  is 
principally  determined  by  considerations  of  decorative  harmony  ;  and  in 
obedience  to  these  considerations  nature  is  often  violated.  The  quality  of 
particular  surfaces  is  not  defined,  and  there  is  no  attempt  at  a  close  realisation 
of  nature. 

Yet  their  naturalness  is  the  very  point  which  the  contemporaries  of  Giotto 
extol  in  his  creations.  In  the  Decamerone  it  is  said  of  him  "  that  he  was  so 
great  a  genius  that  there  was  nothing  in  nature  he  had  not  so  reproduced  that 
it  was  not  only  like  the  thing,  but  seemed  to  be  the  thing  itself"  Eulogies  of 
this  tenor  on  works  of  art  are,  it  is  true,  common  to  all  periods  alike,  to  the 
most  accomplished  of  classical  antiquity  as  well  as  to  the  most  primitive  of  the 
Middle  Age  ;  and  they  must  only  be  accepted  relatively,  according  to  the 
notion  entertained  by  each  period  of  what  constitutes  truth  and  naturalness. 
And  from  the  point  of  view  of  his  age,  Giotto's  advance  towards  nature, 
considered  relatively  to  his  predecessors,  was  in  truth  enormous.  What  he 
sought  was  not  merely  the  external  truth  of  sense,  but  also  the  inward  truth  of 
the  spirit.  Instead  of  solemn  images  of  devotion,  he  painted  pictures  in  which 
the  spectator  beheld  the  likeness  of  human  beings  in  the  exercise  of  activit}- 
and  intelligence.  His  merit  lies,  as  has  been  well  said,  in  "an  entirely  new 
conception  of  character  and  facts." 

Giotto's  embodiments  of  Scripture  and  legend  are  in  their  main  lines  con- 
sistent w^th  the  tradition  represented  by  the  works  of  the  Romanesque  period 
and  the  prescriptions  of  the  Mount  Athos  Manual.  But  in  the  details  we  see 
how  tradition  is  transmuted  by  his  independence  and  penetration  of  thought. 
He  gets  hold  with  surpassing  insight  of  the  kernel  of  human  interest  in  every 
subject,  letting  the  actions  shape  themselves  according  to  their  inward  springs, 
and  in  that  way  really  giving  them' the  appearance  of  truth  and  life.  "  Every 
fact,"  says  the  writer  whom  we  have  already  quoted,  "  is  made  to  yield  its  most 
significant  aspect,  and  upon  this  the  representation  is  founded."  ^^  Thus  are 
vividly  expressed  the  shame  and  pain  of  the  childless  Joachim  when  the  priest 
rejects  his  offering.      And  his  expression  passes  into  one  of  deep  and  mournful 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD. 


441 


depression  when  he  goes  out  brooding  into  the  fields  and  meets  the  young 
shepherds  who  seem  to  question  one  another  with  looks  of  intelligent  sympathy 
(Fig.  120).  In  the  meeting  of  Joachim  and  Anna  at  the  gate,  the  tenderness  of 
the  embrace,  the  old  man's  God-fearing  humility  in  receiving  the  loving  greeting, 
and  the  reflection  of  these  feelings  in  the  bystanders,  are  perfectly  well  expressed. 


Fig.  121. 

Although  in  the  subject  of  the  Birth  of  the  Virgin  tradition  has  dictated  both 
the  representation  of  the  lying-in  room  and  the  touch  of  familiar  life  in  the 
washing  of  the  infant  (who  appears  twice  in  the  picture),  still  the  great  point  in 
Giotto's  treatment  is  the  expression  of  the  mother  as  she  has  the  child  brought 
to  her  and  .stretches  out  her  hands  to  take  it.  Similarl>-  in  the  Presentation  in  the 
Temple,  the  firm  bearing  of  the  little  maid  as  she  ascends  the  steps,  the  loving 
action  with  which  the  mother  encourages  her  steps,  and  her  dignified  and  kindly 
reception  by  the  priest  are  all  excellently  expressed  (Fig.  121).      The  Visitation, 


442 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


again,  is  an  eloquent  dialogue  without  words,  between  earnest  and  devout 
veneration  on  the  one  hand,  and  a  high  self-respecting  humility  on  the  other. 
Subjects  of  stirring  and  vehement  action,  like  the  Murder  of  the  Innocents,  or 
the  Driving  out  of  the  Money-changers  from  the  Temple,  are  not  always  success- 
ful. The  actions  lack  assurance,  and  thereby  degenerate  into  pantomime. 
But  wherever  the  effect  depends  less  on  the   outward   movements  of  the  actors. 


.'^^ 


Fie.   122. 


and  more  on  the  expression  of  their  inner  experiences,  as  in  the  Raising  of 
Lazarus,  Giotto  is  a  powerful  master  of  dramatic  life.  Certain  traditional 
features  he  still  preserves,  such  as  the  upright  posture  of  the  resuscitated  body 
wrapped  like  a  mummy  in  its  cerements,  the  actions  of  some  of  the  bystanders 
who  hold  their  noses,  and  of  the  sisters  who  throw  themselves  at  the  feet  of 
Christ.  But  the  new  spirit  of  Giotto  lives  in  the  measured  nobility  of  the  figure 
of  Christ  himself,  and  in  the  strong  affections  exhibited  by  the  spectators,  some 
of  whom  gaze  in  astonishment   at  the  awakened   corpse,  and  others,  while  they 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  443 

unwind  the  grave-clothes  from  about  it,  turn  with  believing-  looks  to  the  Saviour 
(Fig.  I  22).  On  the  other  hand,  we  do  not  find  in  Giotto  that  emotional  tenderness 
and  delicacy  which  is  the  mark  of  the  northern  Gothic  st}'le,  and  appears  also  in 
the  work  of  both  Cimabue  and  Duccio, — that  sweet  and  innocent  melancholy, 
that  sadness  which  transfigures  the  countenance  from  within.  It  is  only  when 
they  are  quite  at  rest  that  the  youthful  faces  of  Giotto  have  a  certain  severe 
charm.  But  emotion  with  him  breaks  constantly  and  violently  through,  and 
then,  as  in  the  Crucifixion,  or  the  Bewailing  of  Christ,  the  faces  are  distorted, 
and  the  eyes  knotted  together  with  grief;  the  affection  comes  to  the  surface 
in  a  form  vehement  to  the  pitch  of  passionate  outcry,  and  uncompromising  to 
the  pitch  of  ugliness, — of  impossible  contortion,  as  in  the  S.  John  over  the  dead 
Christ, — or  of  wild  tumult,  as  in  the  angels  flapping  their  wings  and  shrieking 
above.  In  his  personifications  of  the  Virtues  and  Vices  below,  Giotto  again 
succeeds  in  designing  them  not  merely  so  as  to  be  outwardly  recognisable,  but 
with  true  psychological  grasp.  The  fantastic  spirit  of  the  age,  on  the  other 
hand,  comes  out  in  full  force  in  the  Last  Judgment,  where  Hell  is  depicted  with 
innumerable  little  naked  figures  undergoing  ingeniously  contrived  tortures,  and 
its  king,  reminding  us  of  the  description  in  the  thirty-fourth  Canto  of  the 
Inferno,  sits,  an  enormous  naked,  bloated  monster  and  clutches  his  luckless  vic- 
tims with  hand  and  jaw.  In  all  the  other  compositions,  and  especially  in  those 
that  are  purely  dramatic,  the  number  of  figures  is  moderate.  Giotto  generally 
introduces  only  such  personages  as  are  strictly  necessary  to  the  scene.  He  admits 
no  supernumeraries  ;  but  then  all  that  are  present  take  a  lively  part  in  the  action, 
are  closely  connected  with  it,  and  talk  to  each  other  with  simple,  but  intelligent 
and  natural  gestures. 

Such  a  psychologic  grasp  evidently  presupposes  an  increased  power  of 
perceiving  realities,  and  if  not  exactly  a  habit  of  studying  natural  forms,  at 
least  a  close  observation  of  natural  occurrences,  and  of  the  way  men  bear  them- 
selves in  life.  A  just  and  luminous  comparison  has  been  drawn  between  the 
relations  of  Giotto  and  of  Dante  to  nature  in  this  respect.'^'  The  great  poet 
often  aims  with  all  simplicity  at  the  rendering  of  real  life  ;  emplo}'ing,  instead 
of  threadbare  metaphors,  images  drawn  fresh  from  the  phenomena  of  nature, 
from  warfare,  travel,  festival,  and  daily  life  ;  not  despising  even  the  crudest 
facts,  and  bringing  home  to  the  mind  the  grimace  of  persons  screwing  up  their 
eyes,  by  the  simile  of  a  tailor  threading  his  needle,  and  the  action  of  the  usurers  in 
the  rain  of  fire,  by  that  of  a  dog  scratching  his  fleas.  In  like  manner  Giotto  weaves 
the  most  familiar  touches  into  his  work  ;  as  the  maid,  who,  in  the  prayer  of  Anna, 
sits  quietly  by  spinning,  and  the  fat  cooper,  taken  straight  from  life,  who  tastes 
the  wine  in  the  marriage  feast  of  Cana.  Child-life,  too,  is  studied  closely  from 
reality,  as  the  new-born  Mary  who  makes  a  face  while  her  eyes  are  washed,  or 
the  baby  Christ  In  the  arms  of  Simeon  stretching  back  after  his  mother.  And 
when    Giotto   painted    the    somewhat    unusual    episode   of  Mary   and    Joseph 


444  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

coming  home  after  their  marriage,  he  took  an  artistic  pleasure  in  realising  the 
festive  procession  of  piper,  fiddler,  and  maiden  escort.  Still  he  does  not  treat 
these  subjects  with  the  cheery  geniality  of  Northern  art,  the  peculiar  humour  of 
which  was  unknown  to  the  Italians.  He  always  has  a  reserved  earnestness  of 
his  own,  and  though  he  may  have  less  ideality  than  Cimabue  or  Duccio, 
dignity  is  never  absent  amid  the  power  and  decision  of  his  work. 

Of  Giotto's  other  paintings  at  Padua,  those  in  the  chapter-house  of  the 
Santo,  or  great  church  of  S.  Antony,  there  are  but  few  traces  left.^*^*^  Vasari 
ascribes  to  the  master  the  decoration  of  a  chapel  in  the  church  of  S.  John  the 
Evangelist  at  Ravenna,  the  vaultings  of  which  still  exist.  In  the  crown  of  every 
arch  there  is  an  Evangelist  and  a  Father  of  the  Christian  Church,  but  bearing 
no  relation  to  one  another  ;  above  them  always  the  symbol  of  the  former. 

To  the  period  following  the  completion  of  the  Arena  Chapel  belong  probably 
Giotto's  paintings  in  the  Lower  Church  at  Assisi,  though  Vasari,  indeed, 
describes  them  in  the  same  breath  with  the  earlier  pictures  in  the  Upper 
Church.  The  vaultings  above  the  intersection  of  nave  and  transept — ^just,  that 
is,  over  the  tomb  of  the  founder  of  the  order — contain  in  one  compartment  S. 
Francis  in  glory,  wearing  only  a  deacon's  robes,  as  his  humility  had  declined 
the  higher  orders,  enthroned  under  a  canopy,  and  surrounded  by  angels  with 
musical  instruments  and  palm-branches  ;  and  in  the  three  remaining  compart- 
ments, allegories  of  the  three  vows  of  the  order. — the  vow  of  Poverty,  the  vow 
of  Chastity,  and  the  vow  of  Obedience. 

The  central  theme  of  the  first  of  these  three  compositions  is  the  Marriage 
of  S.  Francis  with  Poverty.  It  has  hence  been  assumed  by  some  that  in  this 
picture  Giotto  was  directly  inspired  by  the  verse  of  Dante,  and  therefore  that 
the  series  to  which  it  belongs  was  executed  soon  after  the  appearance  of  the 
Divine  Comedy,  or  about  A.D.  i  3  14-1  322.  But  the  allegory  in  question  was  no 
invention  of  Dante's  ;  it  had  been  already  employed  by  S.  Francis  himself. 
For  the  rest,  it  stands  to  reason  that  the  whole  series  of  compositions  will  have 
been  designed  by  Giotto  in  accordance  with  a  programme  laid  down  by  the 
superiors  of  the  Order.      The  words  of  Dante  are — 

"  His  day  was  not  yet  far  beyond  its  dawn 

When  he  began  to  make  the  earth  aware 
Of  comfort  from  his  sovereign  virtue  drawn  ; 

For  such  a  bride  his  father's  wrath  to  dare 
Chose  he  full  young, — a  bride  'gainst  whom  the  key 

Even  as  against  Death  to  turn  is  others'  care. 
Before  the  spiritual  tribunal  he, 

Et  coram  patre  took  her  to  his  heart, 
And  then  loved  daily  in  more  dear  degree." 

Uante,  Parad.,  xi.   55  sqq. 

That    which    for    the    poet    is    a    metaphor    and    figure   of   speech,   becomes 
bluntly  material  in  the  hands  of  the  painter  and  assumes  a  doctrinal   bearing 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD. 


445 


not  suitable  for  art,  and  indeed  not  quite  intelligible  without  written  explana- 
tions. In  a  dress  of  rags  and  patches,  and  standing  with  bare  feet  among  the 
thorns,  while  a  rose-bush  grows  up  behind  her,  stands  Poverty,  holding  out  her 
finger  to  receive  from  S.  Francis  the  marriage-ring  ;  Christ  in  person  solem- 
nises the  union,  in  presence  of  the  angelic  hosts  (Fig.  123).  On  one  side  we 
see  Faith  giving  the  ring  to  Poverty,  and  Love  holding  a  heart  towards  her. 
In  the  foreground  is  a  dog  barking  at  her,  and  children  threatening  her  with 
sticks  and  stones,  to  indicate  the  contempt  of  the  world.  But  on  the  other 
hand  the   hearts   of  some  are   touched    and    stirred    to   emulation.      One  of  the 


Fi-  123. 


side  groups  shows  how  two  men,  one  hawk  on  wrist  and  the  other  purse  in  hand, 
are  roused  from  their  worldliness  and  avarice  ;  in  the  opposite  group  a  young 
man,  being  warned  by  an  angel,  gives  his  cloak  to  a  beggar.  At  the  top  of  the 
picture  wc  see  this  cloak,  with  a  model  of  the  church,  supposed  to  have  been 
dedicated  by  those  other  two,  being  offered  up  by  angels  to  God  the  F'ather. 

In  the  next  allegory.  Chastity,  surrounded  by  angels  who  hand  her  the 
cross  and  crown,  appears  in  the  upper  storey  of  her  ca.stlc,  which  is  guarded 
by  Purity  and  Courage.  Below  are  groups  significant  of  struggle  and  purifi- 
cation. On  the  left  side  S.  Francis  is  receiving  nuns,  monks,  and  laymen  ; 
behind  them  a  warrior  stands  ready  with  a  scourge  ;  on  the  right  we  sec  a 
novice  in  the  waters  of  j)urification,  to  whom  Purity  and   Courage  reach  down 


446 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


shield  and  banner,  while  in  wait  for  him  stand  angels  with  the  habit  of  the 
Order,  and  a  man  with  a  scourge.  Another  warrior  with  a  scourge  drives  lust 
out  of  a  penitent  brother  ;  three  assistant  Virtues  ward  off  the  Vices,  and 
Death  drags  a  naked  figure  into  the  pit. 

For  the  third  composition,  Obedience  is  represented  as  a  winged  female 
figure  enthroned  in  an  airy  vestibule  between  Wisdom,  Janus-headed  and  holding 
a  mirror,  and   Humility  with  the  torch  ;  she  places  the  yoke  upon  the  neck  of 


a  kneeling  Franciscan.  On  the  left  kneel  a  lay  brother  and  a  woman,  to  whom 
an  angel  points  out  this  proceeding  ;  on  the  right  a  Centaur,  the  symbol  of 
pride  and  arrogance,  is  dazzled  by  the  mirror  held  up  by  Prudence.  Adoring 
angels  close  in  the  composition  on  either  side,  and  at  the  top  two  hands  are 
seen  drawing  S.  Francis  up  to  heaven  by  his  yoke,  while  an  angel  kneels  at 
each  side  with  the  rules  of  the  Order  (Fig.  124). 

Christian  art  had  from  the  first  known  and  taken  over  from  classical 
antiquity  personifications  and  ideal  figures  of  a  symbolical  character.  These 
had  often  belonged  to  the  happiest  efforts  of  painting,  and  in  the  Virtues  and 
Vices  of  the  Arena  Chapel  Giotto  had  also  treated  such  subjects  with  character 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  447 

and  originality.  But  there  is  a  difiference  between  such  personifications  and 
actual  allegories  like  these  at  Assisi,  in  which  it  is  not  a  case  of  merely  con- 
verting abstract  ideas  into  a  kind  of  mythic  living  beings,  but  of  giving  pic- 
torial embodiment  to  the  intelligible  relations  of  things,  and  assigning  to  the 
several  personifications  their  parts  in  an  action  intended  to  be  understood 
through  the  eye.  It  was  characteristic  of  a  scholastic  age  to  introduce  such 
allegories  into  art.  But  Giotto  cannot  possibly  have  taken  up  this  material 
with  the  same  warmth  of  feeling  as  he  did  the  Bible  stories;  and  if  this  opinion 
needed  confirmation,  we  have  it  in  his  own  words  in  his  interesting  poem, 
A  Canzone  on  Poverty.  As  though  he  who  had  to  put  so  much  of  his  art  at  the 
service  of  the  Franciscans  had,  in  doing  so,  become  disgusted  with  the  monkish 
temper,  he  protests  with  rare  independence  against  the  mischievous  wolves  who, 
in  their  false  clothing,  seem  the  mildest  of  lambs,  and  against  disguised  lust  of 
power  and  hypocrisy.  Poverty  unsought,  he  says,  is  bad  enough,  but  voluntary 
poverty,  at  least,  did  not  lead  to  wisdom,  morality,  virtue,  or  knowledge,  and  it 
was  a  shame  to  call  that  virtue  which  consisted  in  despising  what  was  good.^'^^ 
Nevertheless,  these  themes  once  given,  Giotto  laid  hold  of  them  with  thorough 
artistic  intelligence.  He  made  the  purely  abstract  as  living  as  possible  to  the 
eye,  brought  the  leading  idea  clearly  into  prominence,  arranged  the  groups 
judiciously,  accommodated  the  design  to  its  space  with  right  sense  of  structure, 
style,  and  distribution,  and  lastly,  in  the  use  of  peculiarly  clear  tones  of  colour, 
with  a  flowing  method,  showed  the  finest  feeling  for  the  exigencies  of  the 
sombre  building  which  he  was  called  on  to  adorn. 

Vasari  speaks  in  very  general  terms  of  the  remaining  works  of  Giotto  in 
the  Lower  Church,  as  of  "  beautiful  and  admirably  painted  pictures  on  the  side 
walls."  We  do  in  fact  recognise  Giotto's  hand  in  the  scenes  from  the  child- 
hood of  Christ,  the  Crucifixion,  and  a  few  others  from  the  legend  of  S.  Francis 
in  the  transept ;  and  when  Vasari  speaks  of  a  S.  Francis  with  the  stigmata 
over  the  door  of  the  sacristy,  as  seeming  to  him  with  its  touching  expression  of 
devotion  to  be  the  best  work  of  Giotto  in  Assisi,  he  evidently  has  in  his  mind 
figure  of  the  Saint,  pointing  with  one  hand  to  a  skeleton,  and  showing  the 
mark  of  the  wound  on  the  other,  which  is  to  be  found  near  one  of  the  doors. 

In  many  other  places  where  Giotto  is  known  to  have  practised  his  art,  such 
as  Rimini  and  Naples,  where  he  painted  in  S.  Chiara  and  in  the  Castello  dclV  Uovo, 
his  works  have  perished,  as  well  as  much  that  he  produced  in  his  native  Florence. 

But  at  least  he  can  still  be  seen  in  some  of  the  works  of  his  ripest  and 
most  powerful  time,  and  once  more  in  a  Franciscan  church,  that  of  S.  Croce. 
Four  chapels  in  S.  Croce  arc  decorated  1)\-  him  ;  in  two  of  them  the 
pictures  are  destroyed,  but  in  the  other  two  the  whitewash  has  onl\'  in  recent 
years  been  removed.  In  the  chapel  of  the  Bardi  family  he  has  represented  the 
Francis  legend,  but  in  a  far  more  moving  and  impressive  iiiannci-  than  formerly 
at  Assisi.      He  has  chosen  only  the  really  i)ictorial  incidents,  and  lias  conceived 


448  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

these  in  a  thoroughly  dramatic  way.  The  parting  of  Francis  and  his  father  is 
full  of  the  emotion  and  resolve  of  the  situation.  The  architectural  structures 
take  up  more  room  in  the  backgrounds  ;  instead  of  mere  indications  are  repre- 
sented real  buildings,  correct  in  structure  and  relative  proportions.  All  the 
events  are  so  penetrated  with  inner  life  that  succeeding  generations,  down  to 
the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  could  only  repeat  them  in  the  spirit  in  which 
they  had  been  for  once  and  all  embodied  by  Giotto.  This  is  especialU'  the 
case  with  the  scene  of  mourning  over  the  dead  Francis  ;  the  brothers  are  gazing 
with  emotion  at  the  marks  of  the  stigmata,  while  priests  and  choristers  stand 
around  engaged  in  a  solemn  service.  On  the  ceiling  we  see  the  saints  in  glor}^ 
and  the  personifications  of  the  three  Franciscan  vows.  The  Peruzzi  Chapel  con- 
tains, in  the  face  of  the  arch,  figures  of  prophets,  on  the  vaultings  the  emblems  of 
the  Evangelists,  and  on  the  two  side  walls  the  legends  of  John  the  Baptist  and  John 
the  Evangelist :  this  last  is  the  best,  perhaps,  of  all  that  remains  of  the  master's 
work.  All  the  compositions  are  broader  and  contain  more  figures  than  those 
in  Padua,  but  are  at  the  same  time  admirably  balanced,  and  just  as  full  of  intel- 
lectual life,  and  entirely  free  from  useless  details.  The  Banquet  of  Herod 
is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  these  designs  (Fig.  125).  In  this  a  soldier,  and 
not  the  maiden,  brings  in  the  head  of  John  to  the  king  ;  on  the  left  stands  the 
fiddler,  one  of  the  noblest  of  Giotto's  creations  ;  on  the  right,  the  daughter  of 
Herodias  moves  with  rhythmical  steps  to  the  music,  while  the  two  women  whose 
noble  figures  stand  arm-in-arm  behind  her,  heed  the  dance  no  longer,  but  are 
horror-stricken  at  the  sight  of  the  head  in  the  charger.  Early  art  was  accus- 
tomed to  combine  in  one  picture  the  successive  moments  when  the  daughter 
of  Herodias  dances  and  when  she  brings  in  the  head.  Giotto  refuses  thus  to 
break  up  the  unity  of  the  scene,  and  to  represent  side  by  side  events  not  simul- 
taneous ;  he  makes  the  damsel  seem  to  have  gone  on  with  her  dance,  and  to 
pause  just  as  the  bearer  of  the  head  comes  in.  The  admirable  effect  of  this 
scene  is  produced  as  much  by  masterly  detail  as  by  power  of  expression  and 
effective  co-operation  of  the  various  motives.  In  a  side  compartment  the 
daughter  of  Herodias  kneels  before  her  mother  with  the  head.  The  Raising 
of  Drusiana  by  the  Apostle  John  bears  the  palm  on  the  opposite  wall  as  a 
grandiose  but  severely  measured  composition. 

Of  genuine  panels  remaining  by  the  master  the  number  is  small.  Besides 
the  altar  in  S.  Peter's,  there  is  in  S.  Croce  an  altar-piece  in  five  compartments, 
removed  from  the  Baroncelli  chapel  to  the  Cappella  del  Noviziato  next  to  the 
sacristy  ;  this  is  also  authenticated  by  an  inscription  :  it  represents  the  Corona- 
tion of  the  Virgin,  besides  adoring  angels,  saints,  and  figures  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment ;  the  scale  is  small,  with  a  number  of  extraordinarily  delicate  little  heads, 
which  hardly  tell  with  their  full  value  against  the  gold  nimbuses.  A  Madonna 
enthroned  with  angels  and  saints,  taken  from  the  Ognissanti,  and  now  in  the 
Academy  at  Florence,  shows  an  endeavour  to  preserve  something  of  the  earlier 


\^z 


3  M 


450  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

idealism,  but  the  head  of  Mary  is,  at  the  same  time,  more  human  in  type  than 
that  of  Cimabue.  The  child  Christ  and  the  angels  are  even  more  beautiful 
than  the  Virgin,  and  most  of  the  faces  are  admirably  modelled.  There  are  also 
two  large  Crucifixions,  mentioned  by  so  early  an  authority  as  Vasari,  one  in 
S.  Marco  at  Florence,  over  the  interior  of  the  entrance-gate,  and  one  in  the 
transept  of  the  church  of  Ognissanti  ;  and  further,  a  signed  Madonna  from 
the  church  degll  Angeli,  near  Bologna,  now  in  the  Brera  at  Milan.  Some 
altar  wings  and  a  predella  in  the  gallery  at  Bologna  seem  to  be  only  works 
of  the  school.  In  the  Louvre  is  a  picture  of  S.  Francis  receiving  the  stigmata, 
painted  for  his  church  at  Pisa,  with  three  scenes  from  the  legend  on  the  predella; 
but  this  has  suffered  much  from  restoration.  The  small  scenes  from  the  life 
of  Christ  and  S.  Francis,  which  were  formerly  panels  in  the  presses  of  the 
sacristy  at  S.  Croce  in  Florence,  and  are  now  almost  all  in  the  Academy  there, 
may  have  been  finished  with  the  help  of  pupils,  as  well  as  two  in  the  Pina- 
kothek  at  Munich,  and  two  others  in  the  Berlin  Museum  ;  their  decorative 
purpose  has  permitted  some  slightness  of  treatment,  but  they  show  complete 
certainty  in  the  effect  of  colour,  admirable  composition  although  in  a  narrow 
space,  and  in  all  points  a  masterly  attainment,  by  simple  means,  of  the  desired 
object. 

The  difference  between  the  sculptor  Giovanni  Pisano  and  his  father  Niccola 
is  greater  than  the  difference  between  the  painter  Giotto  and  his  teacher  Cimabue. 
The  simple  style  founded  by  Niccola  on  the  study  of  the  antique  was  followed,  in 
the  work  of  Giovanni,  by  an  adoption  of  the  Northern  Gothic  manner  more 
thorough  than  that  which  we  find  in  any  Italian  paintings  of  the  time. 
Emaciation  and  exaggerated  contortion  of  the  bodies,  vehemence  of  move- 
ment, crowding  and  confusion  in  the  motives  and  composition,  impaired 
Giovanni's  really  great  qualities  of  fire,  imagination,  and  effort  after  intellectual 
expression.  Giotto  strove  for  no  such  display  of  contrast  with  his  predecessors, 
but  b}'  dint  of  pre-eminent  judgment  and  lucidity  made  a  real  advance  in 
painting.  Emancipating  himself  altogether  from  the  Byzantine  manner,  he 
kept  aloof  from  the  Northern  Gothic  also,  and  developed  an  artistic  language 
which  was  the  true  expression  of  the  Italian  national  character.  In  this  sense 
the  saying  of  Cennino  is  exactly  right,  that  Giotto  had  "  done  the  art  of 
painting  from  Greek  into  Latin."  - 

IV.  Pupils  and  Followers  of  Giotto. — An  account  of  the  technical  tra- 
dition of  the  school  of  Giotto,  as  put  on  record  by  one  of  his  later  followers,  exists 
in  the  shape  of  the  Book  of  Art,  or  treatise  on  painting,  by  Cennino  Cennini.^^^ 
To  this  writer  the  essential  thing  is  that  the  painter  should  attach  himself  to 
some  great  master,  and  live  in  his  atmosphere.  He  must  follow  one  only,  not 
first  one  and  then  another.  Cennino,  indeed,  also  recommends  daily  practice  in 
drawing  from  nature,  but  to   follow  a   good  model  is   for  him  the  first  thing. 


MEDLEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  451 

Cennino  lays  down  certain  rules  and  proportions  for  drawing  the  body  ;  he 
divides  the  head  into  three  parts,  from  the  crown  to  the  chin,  and  takes  the 
head  as  a  unit  for  reckoning  the  proportions  in  length  and  breadth  of  the  male 
figure,  which  he  considers  to  be  in  all  eight  heads  and  two-thirds  long.  He 
gives  directions  too,  though  of  the  most  general  kind,  for  landscapes,  trees, 
and  rocks.  In  those  for  representing  buildings  are  disclosed  his  ideas  of 
perspective  ;  the  cornices  along  the  tops  of  the  building  are  to  run  downwards  ; 
plinth  and  basement  lines  upwards  ;  there  is  also  to  be  some  corresponding 
degree  of  aerial  perspective  or  toning  away  of  colours.  Cennino  also  dwells 
upon  the  necessity  of  diligence  in  making  drawings  and  studies,  and  for  this 
purpose  recommends  principally  the  use  of  the  silver  point  on  small  panels 
of  prepared  wood,  on  sheets  of  paper  or  parchment,  often  with  light  water-colour  ; 
pouncing  {i.e.  tracing  a  design  by  pricking  it  through)  was  also  employed 
especially  for  transferring  a  design  on  to  the  wall. 

The  most  important  skill  practised  by  the  school  was  that  of  mural  painting — 
"the  most  agreeable  and  beautiful  kind  of  work  ;"  and  here  Cennino  shows  himself 
an  adept  in  the  art  of  fresco,  which  he  regards  not  as  a  novelty  but  as  a  known 
method  of  which  the  great  master  Giotto  made  use.  The  whole  composition 
is  squared  out  from  a  smaller  design  upon  a  wall  faced  with  a  first  preparation 
of  plaster  ;  a  new  preparation  is  then  laid  on  bit  by  bit,  as  much  every  day  as 
is  wanted  for  the  day's  work,  and  on  this,  while  it  is  still  wet,  the  painting  is 
executed  in  lime-colours  (for  the  reception  of  which  a  wet  ground  is  necessary). 
This  method  demands  vigorous  work,  and  admits  of  no  vacillation  or  alteration, 
but  it  tends  to  great  firmness  of  treatment,  and  is  incomparably  more  durable 
than  painting  on  a  dry  ground.  To  a  certain  extent,  however,  painting  al 
secco  or  on  a  dry  ground  must  always  be  combined  with  fresco,  inasmuch  as 
some  colours  cannot  be  used  in  fresco,  and   must  be  laid  on  in  tempera. 

The  method  of  tempera,  in  which  the  colours  are  mixed  with  yolk  of  c<g<^, 
whether  by  itself  or  with  the  milk  of  figs,  is  also  used  for  panel-painting  ;  the 
panel  is  first  covered  with  a  coat  of  lime  to  hide  the  joints,  a  canvas  is 
stretched  over  this,  and  then  comes  the  final  plaster  ground.  This  method 
superseded  the  more  adhesive  vehicle  of  Byzantine  usage,  \\\\\\  its  yellow 
varnish.  The  book  further  contains  directions  for  preparing  particular  frag- 
ments, for  applying  and  shading  them,  for  laying  on  gold,  also  raised  designs  in 
plaster,  for  varnish,  and  for  painting  as  a  mechanical  trade.  Oil-painting  is 
also  mentioned,  but  only  in  a  passing  way  and  as  having  no  place  in  the 
execution  of  pictures  on  wall  or  panel. 

Laboriously,  by  long  training  and  practice,  the  followers  of  Giotto  became 
expert  in  the  technical  practice  thus  described.  According  to  the  evidence  of 
Cennino,  Taddeo  Gaddi  served  as  a  pupil  under  Giotto  for  four-and-twenty  years, 
and  the  writer  himself  for  twelve  years  under  Angclo  the  son  of  Taddeo.  Cen- 
nino tells  us  loo,  that  at  the  end  of  his  period  of  apprenticeship  a  painter  often 


452 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


worked  for  a  lon^j  time  as  the  associate  of  his  master,  and  took  part  in  his 
undertakings,  without  feehng  any  desire  for  independence.  This  system  must 
have  produced  a  very  strong  technical  tradition,  but  could  not  encourage  pro- 
gress, and  must  have  kept  a  pupil  too  closely  tied  to  his  master's  manner. 
Cennino  also  requires  the  painter  to  be  in  earnest  about  his  work,  to  follow  art 
only  from  love  of  it  and  greatness  of  heart  ;  but  he  has  to  admit  that  some  turn 
to  it  from  heed  and  for  the  sake  of  what  they  can  earn.  Among  the  multi- 
tude of  painters  were  not  a  few  who  practised  their  art  quite  mechanically. 

As  regards  the  outward  position  of  painters  at  this  time,  they  belonged  in 
Florence  to  one  of  the  twenty-one  guilds  into  which  the  citizens  were  divided, 
and  indeed  to  one  of  the  seveh  higher  {arti  viaggiori) — to  that,  namely,  of  the 
surgeons  and  apothecaries  {jnedici  e  spesiali).  Whoever  wished  to  practise  any 
of  the  trades  connected  with  the  guild  had  to  matriculate  in  it  first.  The 
union  of  medicine  and  painting  is  of  very  ancient  date,  witness  the  legend 
which  makes  S.  Luke  a  doctor  and  painter  both.^^^  The  banner  of  this  guild 
was  a  picture  of  the  Madonna  on  a  red  ground,  while  of  other  guilds,  for 
example,  the  brokers  carried  on  their  ensign  gold  coins,  the  masters  in  stone 
and  wood,  a  saw,  axe,  and  hammer.  After  the  time  of  Giotto,  however,  there 
was  founded,  besides  the  old  guild,  a  special  brotherhood  of  painters  called  the 
Company  of  S.  Luke,  which  was  not  a  civic  corporation,  but  rested  on  a  religious 
basis,  and  at  the  same  time  promoted  social  relations  between  fellow-craftsmen. 
This  Society  was  founded  A.D.  1349,  and  its  chapel  was  in  the  church  of  the 
Hospital  of  Sauta  Maria  Nuova}^^ 

The  most  reputed  among  Giotto's  pupils  was  the  aforesaid  Taddeo  Gaddi, 
son  of  Gaddo  Gaddi,  and  godson  of  Giotto  {d.  A.D.  1366).  The  best  authenti- 
cated works  of  his  are  two  altar-pieces  with  his  signature  ;  the  first — a  small 
triptych  in  the  museum  at  Berlin,  dated  A.D.  1334,  and  containing  the  Madonna 
and  Child  with  kneeling  donors,  and  a  number  of  small  figures  of  saints  on  the 
sides,  on  the  wings  the  birth  of  Christ  and  the  Saviour  on  the  Cross,  in  the 
arch-spaces  Christ  between  Mary  and  John,  and  on  the  outsides  of  the  wings  S. 
Christopher  and  other  saints  ;  the  second,  a  Madonna  enthroned  with  six  angels, 
three-quarters  the  size  of  life,  bearing  date  A.D.  1355,  and  lately  transferred 
to  the  Siena  gallery  from  the  church  of  San  Pictro  a  Megognano  at  Poggibonsi. 
Taddeo  comes  strikingly  close  to  his  master  in  drawing,  types,  and  drapery, 
only  that  the  forms  are  prettier,  the  figures  more  attenuated,  the  heads  not 
quite  so  well  understood  in  structure,  and  the  colouring  and  execution  heavier. 
The  expressions  of  grief  in  the  Crucifixion,  and  of  blandness  in  the  Madonnas 
and  children,  show  a  certain  exaggeration. 

Taddeo's  principal  wall-painting  is  in  the  Baroncelli  chapel  in  the  south 
transept  of  S.  Croce,  executed  between  A.D.  i  352-1  356.  Vasari's  ascription  of 
this  work  to  Taddeo  is  borne  out  by  its  unmistakeable  likeness  to  the  signed 
panels  just  mentioned.      The  subject  is  the  legend  of  the  Virgin  ;   the  pictures 


MEDL^VAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  453 

on  the  east  wall,  extending  from  the  rejection  of  Joachim's  offering  to  the 
marriage  of  Mary,  are  the  best  preserved.  Although  it  is  evident  that  the 
whole  mode  of  conception  has  grown  out  of  the  precedent  set  by  Giotto, 
Taddeo  falls  distinctly  short  of  his  master  in  noble  simplicity  and  pointed 
directness.  Many  of  the  motives  are  too  violent,  and  the  eye  is  often  too 
deliberately  attracted  to  mere  episodes  or  secondary  figures,  witness  the  rich 
composition  of  the  Presentation  of  Mary  in  the  Temple.  The  real  charm  of  this 
picture  consists  in  the  groups  of  people  in  front,  looking  on  with  their  artless 
childish  figures  ;  the  virgins  of  the  Temple  peeping  from  a  porch  at  the  side,  and 
hurrying  joyfully  forth  ;  the  multiplication  of  motives  ;  the  stateliness  of  the 
architectural  accessories,  the  complicated  structure  of  which  shows,  as  might  be 
expected,  serious  faults  of  perspective.  But  with  all  this  the  action  wants  force, 
directness,  and  unity  ;  the  little  Mary  turns,  as  she  ascends  the  Temple  steps, 
not  towards  the  high  priest,  but,  like  an  indifferent  actress,  towards  the  public. 
Of  places  other  than  Florence,  Taddeo  painted  at  Pisa  in  the  choir  of  the 
church  of  S.  Francesco  (now  in  military  occupation  and  not  easily  to  be 
visited),  where  Vasari  once  read  his  name  and  the  date  i  342.  Of  this  work 
nothing  remains  except  the  Apostles  in  the  body  of  the  arch,  and  the  pictures 
in  the  vaulting — the  ecstasy  of  Francis  between  Faith  and  Hope  ;  three  pairs 
of  founders  of  monastic  orders  ;  fathers  of  the  Church  in  the  corners,  and 
personified  virtues. 

Among  the  immediate  pupils  of  Giotto,  Maso  was  also  eminent,  according 
to  Ghiberti,  both  as  a  painter  and  sculptor,  and  the  same  writer  makes  him  the 
painter  of  the  legend  of  Constantine  in  the  chapel  of  S.  Silvester  in  S.  Croce. 
This  series,  nobly  composed  and  carefully  executed,  fills  the  whole  south  wall 
of  the  chapel  ;  in  the  north  wall  two  niches  with  funeral  monuments  and 
paintings  are  built  in  over  the  sarcophagi.  The  larger  of  these  two  pictures, 
a  Christ  as  Judge,  with  the  dead  man  kneeling  before  him,  is  almost  completely 
disguised  by  repaintings  ;  but  the  smaller  one,  an  Entombment,  seems  to  be  by 
the  same  hand  as  the  other  paintings  in  the  chapel,  which  have  been  designed 
also  with  a  decorative  regard  to  these  niches.  What  is  striking  here  is  the 
intense  expression  of  grief  and  extreme  emotion,  with  violent  compression  of 
the  eyelids,  but  at  the  same  time  restrained  attitudes  of  the  bodies.  The  hand 
of  Maso  has  been  again  recognised,  no  doubt  justly,  in  the  small  mortuary 
chapel  of  the  Strozzi  behind  the  Spanish  chapel  of  Santa  Maria  Novella  at 
Florence,  in  two  wall-paintings  of  the  Birth  and  the  Crucifixion  of  Christ. ^''^ 
A  similarity  had  also  long  been  remarked  between  the  Entombment  above 
mentioned  and  a  panel  of  the  Bewailing  of  Christ  in  the  Uffizj,  full  of  deep 
feeling  and  delicate  execution.  This  work,  which  we  may  conjecturally  refer 
to  Maso,  is  given  by  the  catalogues  to  Giottino,  because  Vasari  erroneously 
identifies  Ma.so  with  Giottino,  who  was  quite  another  person.'"" 

We  have  just  as  little  certain   information  about   the  works   of  Giottino   as 


454  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

about  those  of  his  father  Stefano,  whom  Ghiberti  mentions  as  an  admirable 
and  learned  master  ;  but  of  all  the  paintings  ascribed  to  him  by  Vasari 
nothing  remains,  or  at  least  nothing  recognisable.  Stefano  appears  from 
Landinio's  Commentary  on  Dante  to  have  been  called  sciinia  della  natiira^  the 
ape  of  nature,  which  seems  to  refer  to  the  strong  realistic  tendencies  common 
to  the  school.  Many  other  artists  mentioned  by  our  authorities  have  also 
become  mere  names  for  us  ;  for  instance,  Giotto's  pupil  Puccio  Capanna,  of  whose 
pictures  in  the  choir  of  S.  Francesco  at  Pistoia  only  fragments  remain  ;  and 
again  Buonamico  Cristofani — called  Buffahnacco,  a  contemporary  Florentine,  who 
did  not  belong  to  the  school  of  Giotto,  but,  according  to  Ghiberti,  was  self-taught. 
He  is  immortalised  by  the  Florentine  novelists  as  a  jolly  companion,  but  his 
identity  as  an  artist  has  faded  away.  Vasari  places  the  time  of  his  death 
as  A.D.  1340;  but  he  appears  in  the  registers  of  the  brotherhood  as  late  as 
A.D.   I  35  I. 

On  the  other  hand,  recent  researches  have  brought  forward  a  forgotten  pupil 
of  Giotto,  about  whom  the  ancient  records  have  but  little  to  relate,  Bernardo  di 
Daddo,  who  was  admitted  into  the  Apothecaries'  Guild,  A.D.  1320,  and  in  A.D. 
1 349  ^^'^s  among  the  members  of  the  new  Confraternity  of  S.  Luke,  and, 
according  to  documentary  evidence,  was  engaged,  A.D.  1 346-1 347,  on  the 
great  Madonna  of  Orcagna's  famous  tabernacle  in  Or  San  Michele.  In  this  pic- 
ture the  Child  reaches  up  caressingly  to  the  face  of  the  Virgin ;  the  eight  angels  at 
the  sides  are  no  longer  seen  in  full  length  one  over  the  other,  as  in  Cimabue's 
pictures,  but  the  design  is  scarcely  less  archaic,  the  figures  of  the  two  foremost 
only  being  seen,  while  the  heads  of  the  others  appear  perpendicularly  one  above 
the  other.  For  the  rest,  the  picture  seems  remarkable  for  mild  and  noble 
expression  and  careful  execution,  but  in  its  present  position  can  hardly  be  seen. 
There  are  other  panels  by  the  same  master,  signed  Bentardns  de  Flore7itia  ; 
one  of  these  is  a  small  and  much-injured  Madonna  in  the  Academy  at  F"lorence. 
But  his  wall-paintings  in  the  chapel  of  S.  Stephen  in  S.  Croce,  representing  the 
martyrdoms  of  SS.  Laurence  and  Stephen,  are  forced  and  stiff  in  the  motives, 
although  very  competently  executed.  An  archaic  vein  always  appears  in 
Bernardo,  which  prevents  him  compassing  complete  artistic  freedom, ^''^ 

Among  artists  of  a  rather  younger  generation  the  pupils  of  Taddeo  Gaddi 
form  a  special  group.  Jacopo  da  Casentino  was  a  member  of  the  first  govern- 
ing body  of  the  newly  founded  Confraternity,  A.D.  1349,  practised  afterwards  in 
.■\rezzo,  where  there  are  still  some  remains  of  wall-painting  from  his  hand.  He 
died  in  his  native  place,  Prato  Vecchio,  in  the  Casentino,  An  altar-piece  from 
the  church  of  S.  John  the  Evangelist  in  that  place,  ascribed  to  Jacopo,  is 
now  in  the  National  Gallery  in  London  ;  it  represents  the  Saint  received  into 
heaven,  with  other  Saints  at  each  side,  and  in  the  upper  compartments  a 
Resurrection  of  Christ,  the  family  of  the  donor  presented  by  the  two  SS. 
John,  the  archangels   Michael  and    Raphael,  and   higher   still   the  Trinity,  with 


MEDL^VAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  455 

an  Annunciation  in  two  parts,  Saints  on  the  pilasters,  and  on  the  predclla  scenes 
from  the  legend  of  John — twenty-two  pictures  in  all. 

Vasari  gives  especial  praise  to  Giovanni  da  Milano  {properXy  Johanins  Jacobi), 
of  Caverzajo  near  Como,  for  advances  made  in  colouring  ;  but  to  this  must 
also  be  added  conscientious  treatment,  careful  modelling,  and  an  endeavour  after 
warmth  and  refinement  of  expression  designed  to  blend  with  the  characteristics 
of  the  school  of  Florence  those  of  the  Sienese  .school  as  we  .shall  presently 
become  acquainted  with  it.  Panels  bearing  this  signature  are — a  Madonna 
enthroned  between  Saints,  besides  two  rows  of  predella  pictures,  with  scenes  from 
the  Gospel,  in  the  gallery  at  Prato,  and  a  Bewailing  of  Christ  dated  A.D.  1365  in 
the  academy  at  P'lorence  ;  both  unfortunately  much  injured.  An  altar-piece 
from  the  church  of  the  Ognissanti,  mentioned  by  Vasari,  is  now  in  the  Uffizj ;  five 
principal  compartments  contain  pairs  of  Saints,  and  the  spaces  under  them  the 
companies  of  the  Prophets,  Patriarchs,  Apostles,  Virgins,  and  Martyrs.  Crowe 
and  Cavalcaselle  recognised  in  this  painting  the  same  hand  as  in  the  wall-paint- 
ings of  the  Rinuccini  chapel  off  the  sacristy  of  S.  Croce,  with  scenes  from  the 
story  of  the  Virgin  and  Mary  Magdalene  ;  and  their  opinion  has  been  verified 
by  an  entry  of  A.D.  1365  concerning  the  commission  for  these  paintings.^^^ 
In  the  pictures  with  scenes  from  the  legend  of  Mary  Giovanni  is  evidently 
influenced  by  the  works  of  his  master  in  the  Baroncelli  chapel  ;  but  as  he  avoids 
violent  motives,  overcrowding,  and  ovcr-insistance  on  accessory  personages, 
and  aims  above  everything  at  clearness  and  simplicit}-,  so  his  work  seems  to 
elevate  the  compositions  of  his  master  Taddeo  into  a  purer  sphere.  On  the 
other  hand,  his  softness  and  mildness  cause  the  action  to  look  sometimes  hesi- 
tating. In  the  Raising  of  Lazarus,  on  the  other  wall,  the  old  motive  is 
abandoned  ;  Lazarus  rises  up  in  the  foreground  from  a  sarcophagus  behind 
which  stands  Christ  in  a  manner  which  remains  quite  unmeaning,  since  the  two 
principal  figures  arc  in  no  way  connected.  This  attempt  at  novelty  on  the  part 
of  Giovanni  failed  from  want  of  dramatic  feeling.  He  was  not  an  original  or 
inventive  spirit.  His  hand  is  also  to  be  discerned  in  the  frescoes  of  the  legends 
of  the  two  SS.  John,  S.  Nicholas,  and  S.  Antony,  lately  uncovered  in  the 
Castellani  chapel,  .S.  Croce,  and  ascribed  by  Vasari  to  Stamina. 

A  third  jnipil  of  Taddeo  was  his  son  Agnolo  Gaddi,  who  died  at  a  good  old 
age,  A.D.  1396.  Although  he  followed  essentially  in  his  father's  step.s,  Agnolo 
already  shows  some  tendencies  towards  that  transformation  which  was  onl}' 
really  carried  through  in  the  fifteenth  century.  His  most  important  frescoes 
are  those  c;f  the  Cappella  della  Cintola  (of  the  Sacred  Girdle)  in  the  cathedral 
at  Prato,  representing  the  legend  of  Mary — her  ascension  to  heaven,  in  which 
she  hands  her  girdle  to  Thomas,  and  then  the  discovery  of  this  relic  by  a  citizen 
(jf  Pralf),  one  Michele  de'  Dagonari  ;  further,  in  the  choir  of  S.  Croce  at  Florence, 
the  legend  <jf  Constantine,  S.  Helena,  and  the  finding  of  the  Holy  Cross. 
The  brightness  of  colour  which  may  once  have  characterised    these  pictures   is 


456  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

now  too  much  dimmed.  Many  stately  groups  and  figures,  man}-  fresh  and 
pleasant  features,  are  still  to  be  found,  but  by  the  side  of  these  there  are  also 
instances  of  haste  and  conventionality.  The  landscape  backgrounds,  for 
instance,  are  often  obtrusive.  The  old  style  seems,  in  the  hands  of  Agnolo,  to 
be  on  the  point  of  dissolution,  and  to  have  lost  its  severity  and  simplicity. 
Far  more  effective  is  Agnolo's  panel  from  S.  Pancrazio,  now  in  the  Academy  at 
Florence,  a  Madonna  with  six  saints,  and  predellas  ;  the  execution  is  delicate, 
and  the  symmetrical  architectural  framework  enclosing  each  figure  in  a  separate 
field  was  a  restraint  which  was  of  service  to  the  painter. 

Andrea  di  Clone,  surnamed  Orcagna  or  Arcagnolo,  stands  in  advance  of 
all  the  other  followers  of  Giotto  for  independence  of  spirit,  carefulness  of 
study,  and  vigour  in  the  rendering  of  relief.  He  was  a  universal  genius  ;  a 
painter  in  the  first  place,  but  at  the  same  time  a  sculptor,  architect,  and  poet. 
In  painting  he  worked  much  with  his  brother  Nardo  {Lionardo),  The  latter 
died  A.D.  1365,  and  Andrea  probably  A.D.  1368.  His  principal  wall-paintings 
were  the  three  great  pictures  of  the  Last  Judgment,  Hell,  and  Paradise,  in  the 
Strozzi  chapel  in  the  transept  of  Santa  Maria  Novella.  The  Hell,  which  is  divided 
into  circles,  is  perhaps  less  a  picture  than  a  graphic  illustration  of  Dante  ;  the 
Last  Judgment  is  very  much  cramped  in  composition  by  the  window-opening 
in  its  midst  ;  but  the  Paradise  appears  all  the  more  glorious  with  its  solemn 
grandeur  and  monumental  nobility  of  distribution.  For  the  study  of  the 
figure  Orcagna  did  all  that  was  possible  within  the  limits  of  his  epoch  ;  he  is 
more  assured  than  other  men  of  his  time  in  the  rendering  of  the  extremities,  so 
that  his  figures  walk  and  stand  with  unusual  firmness,  and  he  even  ventures  on 
bold  foreshortenings,  although  he  had  no  proper  theoretical  knowledge  of  per- 
spective. He  also  advanced  a  long  step  in  the  treatment  of  shadow,  attaining 
thereby  an  increase  of  solidity  ;  but,  above  all,  he  had  mastered  the  life  of  the 
soul,  and  knew  how  to  express  energy  no  less  than  tenderness.  This  difference 
between  him  and  Giotto,  to  whom  he  was  closely  allied  in  his  proportions  and 
style  of  drapery,  may  be  seen  in  the  two  noble  figures  of  the  humble  Mary  and 
the  crowned  and  sceptred  Christ,  seated  side  by  side  on  the  same  throne 
above  the  Paradise  (Fig.  126). 

In  A.D.  1357  Orcagna  produced  the  signed  altar-piece,  arranged  in  five 
pointed  arcades,  of  the  same  chapel.  Christ,  enthroned  under  a  glory  of  angels, 
hands  over  the  keys  and  book  to  Peter  and  Thomas  Aquinas,  who  kneel 
before  him  ;  next  the  Saviour  stands  the  Virgin  crowned,  introducing  the  holy 
Dominican  and  John  the  Baptist ;  and  more  to  the  side,  the  archangel 
Michael  and  SS.  Catherine,  Paul  and  Laurence.  The  predella  shows  Peter 
walking  on  the  sea,  and  two  legendary  scenes.  Almost  on  the  same  level  ranks 
the  altar-piece  executed  for  S.  Pietro  Maggiore,  and  now  in  the  National  Gallery. 
It  represents  Christ  crowning  the  Virgin,  with  angels  adoring  and  playing  on 
musical  instruments  ;   on  the  wings  there  are  forty-eight  kneeling  Saints  ;    with 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD. 


457 


Fig.  126. 


the  Trinity  and  six  scenes  from  the  Gospels  in  what  were  formerly  the  crestin^rs 
of  the   panels.      The   harmonious   transparency  of  colour  so  agreeable    in   the 

3  N 


45S 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


Fig.  127. 


former  pictures,  is,  indeed,  lost  in  the  present  instance,  in  consequence  of  restora- 
tions.     From  A.D.  1358   Andrea  was  also  occupied  with  the  mosaics  on  the 


MEDL^VAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  459 

front  of  the  cathedral  at  Orvieto,  but  with  less  success,  as  he  was  prevented 
b}-  public  commissions  in  his  own  home  from  devoting  himself  without  inter- 
mission to  this  new  and  honourable  work.  The  mosaics  there  have  all  been 
renewed. 

In  close  personal  connection  with  Orcagna  was  Francesco  Traini  of  Pisa, 
who  cannot,  how^ever,  as  Vasari  makes  out,  have  been  his  pupil,  but  established 
himself,  being  then  already  a  full  master,  in  Orcagna's  workshop,  when  he  was 
in  Florence  A.D.  1349.  To  him  also  fell  the  task  of  glorifying  the  Dominicans, 
as  it  had  done  to  Orcagna  in  the  Strozzi  chapel.  An  altar-piece  in  the  church 
of  S.  Catherine  at  Pisa  depicts  the  famous  theologian  of  the  Order,  S.  Thomas 
Aquinas,  in  a  glory  with  the  open  book  ;  on  either  side  of  him,  and  on  a 
smaller  scale,  Plato  and  Aristotle  offering  their  books.  At  the  feet  of  the  Saint, 
and  dazzled  by  a  ray  from  his  book,  lies  Averrotfs,  while  at  the  sides,  and  quite 
small,  stand  a  crowd  of  admiring  and  adoring  Dominicans  ;  above,  the  compo- 
sition is  completed  by  Christ  in  a  glory,  Moses,  Paul,  and  the  Evangelists.  The 
composition  is  of  architectural  severity,  and  the  difference  of  scale  in  the  figures 
of  its  various  parts  makes  it  appear  archaic  ;  the  treatment  remains  more  flat 
and  petty  than  that  of  Orcagna,  for  all  its  minute  refinement  (Fig.  127). 
Another  altar-piece,  completed  A.D.  1345  for  the  same  church,  is  now  in  the 
academy  at  Pisa  ;  the  centre  panel  contains  a  standing  figure  of  S.  Dominic, 
and  the  wings  which  are  in  the  library  of  the  seminary  at  Pisa,  eight  scenes 
from  his  life.^*'" 

But  side  by  side  with  the  works  of  this  period  of  which  the  authors  are 
known  and  in  part  at  least  attested  by  original  documents,  there  are  many 
nameless,  and  concerning  which  the  early  authorities  are  either  silent,  or  give 
information  plainly  erroneous.  We  are  in  a  position  to  affirm  that  this  or  that 
work  cannot  be  by  the  master  to  whom  Vasari  ascribes  it,  but  to  decide  upon 
its  real  author,  without  allowing  personal  impressions  to  count  for  too  much,  is 
often  far  more  difficult.  To  these  doubtful  works  belong  the  west  wall  of  the 
refectory  in  S.  Croce  at  Florence.  In  the  principal  compartment  we  find  Christ 
on  the  cross,  the  cross  being  treated  as  at  the  same  time  the  Tree  of  Life, 
and  hung  with  pictures  of  prophets  and  texts  ;  in  four  fields  at  the  sides  there 
are  legendary  scenes  ;  in  a  lower  compartment,  the  Last  Supper,  in  which 
the  Apostles  sit  along  one  side  of  the  table  facing  the  spectator,  and  the 
simple  but  forcible  expression  of  the  heads  is  remarkable.  In  spite  of  the 
excellence  of  the  work,  there  can  be  no  question  here  of  Giotto,  to  whom  Vasari 
ascribes  it,  but  only  of  an  able  follower,  of  much  later  date  and  no  special 
individuality. 

Far  more  important  are  the  renowned  wall-paintings  of  the  Spanish  Chapel, 
the  former  chapter-house  of  Santa  Maria  Novella,v^\\\c\\  Vasari  divides  between 
Taddco  Gaddi  and  Simonc  Martini  of  Siena.^'"  They  exhibit  no  positive  or 
striking  correspondence  with  the  works  of  the  former,  still  less  with  those  of  the 


46o  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

latter  master ;  whose  co-operation  is,  for  the  rest,  out  of  the  question,  from  the 
fact  that  he  left  Italy  A.D.  1339,  and  died  A.D.  1344,  whereas  the  paintings 
were  still  unfinished  at  the  death  of  the  founder,  Buonamico  Guidalotti, 
A.D.  1355.  The  pictures,  it  is  true,  are  not  executed  throughout  by  the  same 
hand,  but  in  spirit  and  conception  the  work  is  a  connected  whole.  Allowing  the 
question  of  their  authorship  to  stand  open,  we  proceed  to  what  is  much  more 
important,  the  consideration  of  the  compositions  themselves,  and  of  the  spirit 
which  inspired  them. 

The  influence  of  the  two  Mendicant  Orders,  of  which  the  rise  in  the 
thirteenth  century  placed  so  powerfiil  an  instrument  in  the  hands  of  the  Romish 
Church,  was  of  weight  also  in  the  history  of  art.  As  the  monastery  church  at 
Assisi  and  S.  Croce  in  Florence  were  the  chief  centres  of  an  art  inspired  by 
the  Franciscan  movement,  so  also  was  there  an  art  inspired  and  governed  by 
the  Dominican  movement,  which  had  its  centre  in  the  monastery  of  that  order, 
Santa  Maria  Novella  at  Florence.  Franciscan  art  did,  indeed,  occasionlly  take 
the  shape  of  scholastic  allegories,  but  its  principal  subject  always  remained  the 
Legend  of  S.  Francis.  The  Dominicans,  on  the  other  hand,  had  no  poetic 
legend  of  this  kind  ;  a  want  for  which  the  Order  that  had  in  its  hands 
the  institution  of  the  Inquisition,  the  discipline  of  the  Church,  preaching  and 
the  instruction  of  the  people,  sought  to  make  up  by  didactic  embodiments  glori- 
fying the  system  and  the  ethics  of  the  great  scholastic  theologian  of  the  Domini- 
cans, Thomas  Aquinas.^^^  We  have  before  us  the  greatest  and  most  important 
of  all  these  attempts  in  the  pictures  of  the  Spanish  Chapel.  These  are  taken  in 
every  particular  from  the  writings  of  Aquinas,  and  painted  according  to  a  pro- 
gramme laid  down,  no  doubt,  by  some  superior  or  learned  doctor  of  the  monastery. 
The  south  entrance-wall  contains  scenes  from  the  life  of  Dominic  and  Peter 
Martyr  ;  on  the  north  wall  near  the  altar  the  sufferings  of  Christ  are  depicted  in 
a  Crucifixion  with  numerous  figures,  in  connection  with  which  are  introduced 
into  the  background  Christ  bearing  the  cross,  and  Christ  in  Limbus  ;  the  vault- 
ings show  Peter  walking  the  waves  and  the  disciples  in  the  ship,  also  the 
Resurrection,  Ascension,  and  Outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  two  principal 
paintings  are  those  on  the  east  and  west  walls,  which  are  unbroken  and  bounded 
by  arches  ;  they  represent  the  doctrine  and  discipline  of  the  Church  according 
to  the  ideas  of  the  Dominicans. 

The  subject  of  the  painting  on  the  west  wall  is  taken  from  the  Siiuivia 
TheologicB  of  Aquinas.  Along  the  lower  part  of  the  wall  extends  a  row  of 
Gothic  choir-stalls,  occupied  like  thrones  by  fourteen  allegorical  figures,  at  whose 
feet  sit  their  historical  representatives  to  the  same  number.  First  the  seven 
Liberal  Arts — Grammar  with  Donatus  at  her  feet,  Rhetoric  with  Cicero,  Dialectic 
with  Aristotle,  Music  with  Tubalcain  swinging  the  hammer  above  the  anvil,  Astro- 
nomy with  Ptolemy,  Geometrj^  with  Euclid,  Arithmetic  with  Pythagoras ;  then  the 
three  Theological  Virtues,  Charity  (figured  as  Love  with  bow  and  arrow),  Hope, 


MEDLEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD. 


461 


and  Faith,  with  Augustine  and  two  other  Saints  below  them  ;  farther  on  Devotion 
and  Pra\er,  or  inward  and  outward  worship  {Devotio,  Oratio,  the  latter  holding 
an  image  of  Christ),  with  Jerome  and   Basil   below  them  ;   lastly,   Divine   Law 


CO 


with  the  model  of  a  church,  and  Human  Law  with  sword  and  globe,  ai  their 
feet  a  Pope  and  Emperor  respectively  (Fig.  128).  Above  these  tiers  ^f  sitting 
figures  rises  a  third  tier,  in  the  centre  of  which  sits  Thomas  Aquinas  on  .i 
richly   decorated   throne    and   under   a  canopy,   while    below^    him    cower    with 

sullen   and    disconcerted    looks    the    three    \;m(|uisli((i    heretics    Ax'crroes,  Arius, 


462  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

and  Sabellius  ;  while  on  seats  at  the  sides  there  are  ten  figures  from  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments, — the  authors  of  those  sacred  writings  to  which  Aquinas 
wrote  commentaries.  The  topmost  space  of  all  is  filled  with  floating  angels. 
Thus  the  subject  of  Traini's  panel  above  described  is  here  repeated  on  a  grander 
scale. 

The  allegory  of  Church  Government  on  the  opposite  or  east  wall  is  an 
illustration  to  the  commentary  of  the  Song  of  Solomon  by  Thomas  Aquinas. 
In  the  lower  half  is  depicted  the  struggle  of  the  Church  for  the  heavenly  Bride- 
groom, and  in  the  upper  the  blessedness  of  her  union  with  him.  In  the  left 
half  of  the  lower  division  lies  a  great  church,  a  faithful  reproduction  of  the 
Diionio  of  Florence  after  the  old  model  of  Arnolfo  ;  in  front  are  enthroned  the 
Pope  and  Emperor  between  ecclesiastical  and  secular  dignitaries  ;  sheep  lie  at 
their  feet ;  the  community  is  guarded  by  black  and  white  spotted  dogs,  a  play 
upon  the  name  Dominican  {Domini  canes,  for  dogs  of  the  Lord)  ;  besides  these, 
and  on  the  same  side  as  the  ecclesiastics,  are  monks  and  nuns  standing  or  kneel- 
ing in  earnest  meditation.  These  represent  the  contemplative  life  [inta  contempla- 
tivd)  ;  on  the  secular  side  are  men  and  women  in  ordinary  dress  or  in  pilgrims' 
weeds  representing  the  active  life  {i)ita  activa),  in  which  faithful  effort  may  also 
lead  to  salvation.  The  right  half  of  the  lower  part  illustrates  the  warding-off 
of  perils  from  the  Church  by  means  of  the  two  Dominican  offices  of  preaching 
and  the  inquisition.  Dominic  sends  out  his  dogs  to  fall  upon  the  foxes  that 
have  broken  into  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord  ;  again  Dominic  preaches  to  the 
disobedient  and  stiff-necked,  Thomas  Aquinas  to  the  heretics  and  unbelievers. 
The  scene  in  the  upper  part  of  this,  the  right  side  of  the  picture,  leads  on  from 
the  Church  militant  to  the  Church  triumphant.  The  connection  with  what 
precedes  as  well  as  what  follows  is  formed  by  a  Dominican  giving  absolution 
to  one  who  kneels  before  him,  and  S.  Dominic  himself  directing  some  of  the 
faithful  to  the  gate  of  Paradise,  The  way  to  this  is  through  the  overthrow  of 
sin,  and  so  we  find  farther  on  a  fenced  garden  (under  which  similitude  the 
Song  of  Solomon  shadows  forth  the  Church),  and  within  this  garden  four 
colossal  seated  figures — a  man  in  solemn  meditation  personifying  the  contem- 
plative life,  then  three  figures  symbolising  victory  over  the  temptations  of  the 
world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil,  namely  a  man  with  a  falcon,  a  woman  with  a 
lapdog,  and  a  girlish  figure  with  a  lute.  A  little  farther  off,  figures  of  the 
blessed  dance  in  rings  upon  the  sward  ;  higher  up,  boys  gather  from  the  trees 
the  pomegranates  of  the  Song,  and  a  smiling  landscape  expands  behind  the 
whole.  Above,  on  the  left,  stands  open  the  gate  of  Paradise  ;  Peter  and  angels 
usher  new  hosts  to  those  already  assembled  within  ;  and  in  the  crown  of  the 
arch  appears  the  Saviour  himself  in  a  glory  with  angels  and  the  symbols  of 
the  Evangelists. 

The  second  picture,  with  its  multitude  of  figures,  their  graceful  and  often 
characteristic  aspects,  and  the  rich   treatment  of  landscape   and  architecture   in 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  463 

the  background,  fails  nevertheless  in  point  of  monumental  dignity  and  unity  of 
design.  These  qualities  are  all  the  more  remarkable  in  the  first,  which  is 
admirably  constructed  and  full  of  style,  and  in  which  the  union  of  exalted 
personifications  with  human  personages  full  of  earnestness,  and  in  unrestrained 
and  lifelike  positions,  produces  a  highly  original  effect.  This  far-fetched 
symbolism  of  the  Dominicans  could  not  yield  an  artistically  clear  and  self- 
explaining  result.  Instead  of  the  language  of  the  soul,  that  of  monastic  morality 
and  priestly  erudition  obtrudes  itself,  but  the  artists  to  whom  the  realisation  of 
the  programme  was  entrusted  were  able  by  their  talent  for  composition  and 
instinct  of  style  to  conquer  even  in  this  undertaking. 

But  the  habitual  use  of  allegory  had  extended  itself  from  the  service  of 
ecclesiastical  scholasticism  to  that  of  secular  art,  and  found  its  way  into  those 
political  paintings  with  which  town-halls  and  public  buildings  were  often 
decorated,  with  an  intention  in  like  manner  didactic,  in  order  to  commemorate 
some  act  of  civic  virtue  or  to  preserve  the  memory  of  some  historical  event. 
The  greater  number  of  these  works  have,  of  course,  perished,  but  it  is  worth  while 
to  mention  some  of  their  subjects  from  the  records  of  Ghiberti  and  Vasari.  Thus 
in  the  hall  of  the  Palazzo  del  Podestd  at  Florence,  Giotto  is  said  to  have 
represented  the  robbing  of  the  commonwealth,  in  which  the  Commune  was 
personified  as  a  Judge  wielding  the  sceptre,  and  enthroned  between  the  four 
Cardinal  Virtues.  Taddeo  Gaddi  painted  the  commercial  tribunal  of  six  in  its 
own  court,  the  Mercanzia  Vecchia,  and  before  it  Truth  tearing  out  the  tongue 
of  Falsehood.  And  in  1343,  when  Walter  of  Brienne,  Duke  of  Athens,  who 
had  made  himself  tyrant  in  Florence  under  Neapolitan  protection,  was  expelled 
by  the  people  in  A.D.  1343,  an  allegorical  representation  of  the  subject,  which 
Vasari  ascribes  to  his  mythical  Giottino,  was  painted  in  the  Palazzo  del 
Podesta.'i'^ 

V.  School  of  Siena. — As  in  the  days  of  Cimabue,  so  also  in  those  of 
Giotto,  Siena  maintains  her  place  side  by  side  with  Florence,  "  I  know  two 
distinguished  and  excellent  painters,  Giotto  of  Florence,  whose  fame  among 
modern  artists  is  extraordinary,  and  Simon  of  Siena,"  says  Petrarca  in  a 
letter,  and  in  three  of  his  sonnets  he  sings  the  praises  of  Simone  for  his  picture  of 
Madonna  Laura,  calling  him  a  better  master  and  of  a  loftier  genius  than 
Zeuxis,  Praxiteles,  and  Phidias."^  The  greatest  master  of  the  Sienese  school  in 
the  fourteenth  century  doe^  in  truth,  deserve  a  place  beside  Giotto.  If  Vasari 
is  right,  Simone  Martini  was  born  A.D.  1284;  according  to  the  registry  of 
S.  Domenico  in  Siena,  lie  died  at  Avignon  in  July  A.l).  i  344.  Vasari  erroneously 
calls  him  Simone  Memmi,  taking  his  brother-in-law  and  occasional  fellow-worker 
Lippo  Memmi,  for  his  brother.  But  Simone  had  a  real  brother  Donato,  who  took 
part  in  his  works.  Vasari  is  also  mistaken  in  making  Simone  a  pupil  of  Giotto. 
He   much    rather  exemplifies   the   complete   independence  of  Sienese  painting. 


464  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

His  chief  work  in  his  native  city  is  the  great  wall-painting  which  fills 
a  whole  side  of  the  council-chamber  in  the  Palazzo  Pubblico — a  Madonna 
with  saints  and  angels,  completed,  according  to  the  inscription,  by  his 
own  hand  A.I).  131 5  (Fig.  128).  Mary  sits  upon  the  throne  in  quiet 
solemnity,  the  draped  Child  stands  upon  her  lap  in  the  attitude  of  benediction, 
while  she  gently  touches  his  little  foot  with  her  hand.  They  are  surrounded 
by  thirty  Saints  and  angels,  arranged  in  symmetrical  groups,  of  which  the  two 
foremost,  consisting  of  a  pair  of  angels  holding  up  baskets  of  flowers,  and  four 
patron  Saints  of  the  city,  are  on  their  knees  ;  the  rest  are  standing,  and  among 
them  are  Peter,  Paul,  and  the  two  Johns,  holding  the  front  uprights  of  the  canop)' 
which  covers  them  all.  The  border  is  enriched  with  medallions  and  busts. 
The  composition  is  symmetrical,  but  simple  ;  it  is  only  by  putting  the  figures 
in  the  front  row  in  a  kneeling  position  that  those  of  the  next  are  brought 
properly  into  view,  and  the  heads  of  the  farther  figures  are  only  seen  because  the 
artist  has  conceived  them  as  standing  higher  by  a  step  than  those  in  front.  All 
the  characters,  however,  stand  out  distinctly,  and  their  expressions  combine 
themselves  in  a  noble  unity  of  sentiment.  There  is  the  highest  charm  in  the 
delicate  oval  of  Mary's  face,  still  recalling  the  type  of  Duccio,  with  the  tenderly 
pensive  expression  given  by  the  slightly  updrawn  lower  eyelid,  and  the  gracious 
inclination  of  the  head.  The  loveliness  of  the  angels  lifting  up  the  flowers 
and  the  holy  virgins  adoring  next  the  throne,  is  exalted  by  their  expression  of 
fervent  devotion  ;  the  archangels,  with  a  fuller  cast  of  features,  rise  to  the 
utmost  freedom  and  nobility  of  aspect  ;  they  stand  between  the  two  other  groups, 
and  contrast  effectively  with  the  energetic  character  of  the  Apostles  and  of 
the  Baptist.  The  loving  thoroughness  of  the  execution  of  the  picture  can  be 
but  partly  recognised  in  its  present  state.  On  the  opposite  wall  of  the  same 
apartment  Simone  painted,  A.D.  1328,  an  equestrian  portrait  of  the  Sienese 
captain-at-arms,  Guidoriccio  Fogliani.  He  is  shown,  a  presence  of  power,  in 
profile  on  a  heavy  war-horse,  in  a  country  of  castles  and  fortifications. 

Turning  to  works  of  the  master  preserved  elsewhere  than  at  Siena  itself: — in 
the  first  chapel  on  the  north  side  of  the  Lower  Church  at  Assisi  there  is  a  series 
of  frescoes  representing  the  legend  of  S.  Martin,  which  Vasari  ascribes  to  Puccio 
Capauna,  but  in  which  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle  recognise  the  character  of  Simone. 
At  Naples  Simone  was  occupied  in  the  service  of  King  Robert.  A  side  chapel 
in  San  Lorenzo  Maggiore  in  that  city  contains  a  painting  by  him  of  S.  Louis, 
bishop  of  Toulouse,  sitting  upon  his  throne  and  crowning  his  brother  King 
Robert,  who  kneels  before  him.  On  the  predella  there  are  scenes  from  the 
legend  of  the  same  saint.  Among  other  panels  bearing  the  signature  of  Simone, 
there  is  a  Madonna  at  Orvieto,  with  half-length  saints,  dated  A.D.  1320;  this 
picture  was  taken  from  S.  Domenico,  and  is  now  in  the  Opera  del  Duomo. 
According  to  the  records  of  the  monastery,  the  high  altar  in  the  church  of 
S.  Catherine  at   Pisa  was   painted  by  Simone   in  the   same  year  ;    it  consisted 


MEDLiiVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD. 


465 


V^'^v^^^"^'^*^ 


Flj,r.     129 


3  ^^ 


466  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

originally  of  seven  panels  with  several  tiers  of  pictures,  and  contained  in  the 
principal  compartments  busts  of  the  Madonna  and  various  Saints.  Six  of  these 
panels  may  still  be  seen  in  the  librar}-  of  the  Seminarists  at  Pisa.  In  the  Uffizj 
is  an  altar-piece  which  formerly  belonged  to  the  Cathedral  of  Siena  ;  it  re- 
presents the  Annunciation,  with  standing  figures  of  S.  Ansanus  and  S.  Juliet  ;  an 
inscription  shows  that  it  was  painted  by  Simone  and  his  brother-in-law  Lippo 
Memmi,  a.d.  1333.  Characteristic  is  the  emphasis  of  the  expressions — Mary's 
alarmed  recoil  upon  her  chair,  the  high  emotion  visible  in  the  Saints.  The 
colour  in  Simone's  panels  is  light  and  transparent,  with  little  modelling, 
and  there  is  a  greenish  undertone  in  the  flesh  parts  which  recalls  the  Byzantine 
method,  but  the  execution  is  more  delicate  and  sharp.  Lastly,  a  small 
panel  in  the  Royal  Institution  at  Liverpool  is  worthy  of  notice.  Jesus, 
represented  as  a  boy  of  twelve,  clasps  a  book  in  both  his  arms,  and  is  led  by 
Joseph  up  to  the  seated  Virgin  ;  the)'  both  seem  to  question  him  with  gentle 
reproachfulness  concerning  his  tarr\'ing  in  the  Temple.  The  fervour  and  re- 
finement of  expression  are  surprising ;  but  the  figure  of  Joseph,  short  and 
much  bent  outwards  at  the  hip,  verges,  with  the  artificial  arrangement  of  drapery 
on  mannerism.  Besides  the  signature  the  picture  bears  an  inscription,  according 
to  which  it  was  painted  A.D.  i  342,  when  Simone  was  already  at  Avignon. 

To  the  Papal  Court  at  that  place  we  know,  by  original  documents,  that 
Simone  was  summoned  by  Benedict  XII.,  A.D.  1339.^^*  His  will  shows  that  he 
remained  there  until  his  death  five  years  later,  executing  many  paintings  with 
the  help  of  his  brother.  In  the  head  of  the  arch  above  the  entrance  of  the 
Cathedral  may  still  be  seen  a  fresco  with  a  Madonna,  angels,  and  the  donor — 
a  cardinal — and  above  them  the  Saviour  in  benediction,  encircled  by  a  glor^'  of 
angels.  The  Papal  palace  possesses,  in  the  Hall  of  the  Consistory,  a  series  of 
large  figures  of  Prophets  and  other  Old  Testament  personages  ;  and  the  Pope's 
chapel  contains  the  stor}-  of  John  the  Baptist,  as  well  as  remains  of  pictures 
from  the  legend  of  S.  Peter  and  from  the  Passion,  besides  figures  of  Apostles  ; 
and  lastly,  in  the  opposite  chapel  of  the  Holy  Ofifice  are  scenes  from  the  legend 
of  S.  Martialis.ii'^ 

By  Lippo  Memmi,  who  remained  faithful  to  the  banner  of  his  brother-in-law 
Simone,  a  few  independent  works  are  still  known.  His  largest  wall-painting,  a 
Madonna  with  saints  in  the  hall  of  the  Public  Palace  at  S.  Gimignano,  is  dated 
A.D.  1 3 1 7  ;  it  is  a  somewhat  lifeless  and  artificial  reproduction  of  Simone's 
Madonna  at  Siena.  Among  the  panel  pictures  of  Lippo  the  most  remarkable 
is  a  Virgin  and  Child  in  the  Berlin  Museum,  signed  with  his  name  in  full. 

Ambrogio  di  Lorenzo,  or  Lorenzetti,  is  the  most  famous  Sienese  painter  of 
this  period  after  Simone.  Ghiberti  admires  him  so  much  that  he  ranks  him 
even  higher  than  Simone.  With  Ambrogio  must  also  be  mentioned  his  brother 
Pietro.  The  biographical  records  of  both  are  scanty,  but  there  is  mention 
of  a  public  commission  given  to  Pietro,  A.D.   1305.^^*"      Ambrogio  is  not  spoken 


■MEDIEVAL  PAINTING — FINAL  PERIOD.  467 

of  as  a  painter  till  A.D.  1323.  After  A.D.  1345,  when  Ambrogio's  name  appears 
once  more  in  the  town  accounts,  neither  of  them  is  again  mentioned.  They 
often  worked  together,  as  in  the  case  of  some  pictures  from  the  life  of  the 
Virgin  on  the  front  of  the  Hospital  della  Scala  at  Siena  ;  these  have  now 
perished,  but  an  inscription  which  still  existed  in  the  last  century  mentioned 
the  names  of  both  artists  and  the  date  1335.  The  superiority  of  the  works 
of  these  brothers  consisted  in  a  freedom  from  the  archaic  manner  and  weak 
sentimentality  of  the  school.  They  were  not  behind  the  best  Florentine  artists 
in  force  and  manliness  of  conception.  In  their  technical  method,  the  greenish 
preparation  under  the  flesh  parts,  usual  in  Sienese  work,  soon  gave  place  to  the 
brighter  tone  and  warmer  shadows  of  the  Florentines. 

The  only  remaining  works  of  Pietro  di  Lorenzo  authenticated  by  his 
signature  are  on  panel.  The  earliest,  dated  A.D.  i  3  2  9,  is  in  a  chapel  of  the  church 
of  San  Ansano,  near  Siena  ;  it  represents  the  Madonna  and  Child  enthroned, 
four  angels  appear  at  the  back  of  the  throne,  and  in  front  are  SS.  Nicholas  and 
Anthony  the  Hermit.  The  composition  is  simple  and  still  too  constrained, 
there  is  an  awkwardness,  and,  compared  with  the  charm  of  Simone,  a  harshness 
in  the  attitude  and  expression  of  the  Madonna  ;  the  movement  only  of  the 
Child  is  pleasant,  artlessly  setting  its  foot  on  its  mother's  wrist,  although  the 
foot  itself  is,  of  course,  not  perfectly  drawn.  In  Pietro's  seated  Madonna  be- 
tween four  angels  in  the  Uffizj,  dated  A.D.  i  340,  the  heads  are  again  of  a  uniform 
type,  and  the  eyes  scarcely  open  ;  the  expression,  however,  is  of  the  highest 
purity,  and  the  action  of  the  Child  reaching  up  to  play  with  its  mother's  chin 
full  of  caressing  sweetness.  The  light  flesh  tones  and  tender  colours  of  the 
drapery  are  combined  with  extraordinary  subtlety.  Pietro's  finest  work  is  a  Birth 
of  the  Virgin  (A.D.  i  342)  in  the  sacristy  of  the  Cathedral  at  Siena.  The  mother 
on  her  couch  and  the  bathing  of  the  child  occupy  the  centre  of  the  picture  ; 
on  the  right  two  women  approach  with  linen  and  vessels,  and  on  the  left 
Joachim  in  an  ante-chamber  with  another  old  man  hears  the  announcement  of 
the  birth  from  a  servant.  These  three  compartments  are  divided  by  Gothic 
framework,  but  they  have  a  common  architectural  background,  in  which  the 
perspective  is  tolerably  good,  and  there  is  a  real  feeling  for  space  such  as  we 
scarcely  find  even  in  Giotto.  The  subject  has  hardly  found  another  such 
satisfactory  rendering  in  the  same  age  ;  in  the  Joachim  episode,  his  expression  of 
anxious  inquiry  and  patient  waiting  while  the  message  is  delivered  is  extremely 
original  and  interesting.  An  undated  picture  by  Pietro,  from  Santa  Maria  dclla 
Pieve  at  Arezzo,  is  now  in  the  public  gallery  of  that  town  ;  it  consists  of  a  Madonna 
with  four  saints,  and  a  number  of  subordinate  pictures,  and  is  also  among  the 
best  works  of  the  artist,  but  it  has  been  restored  by  Vasari.  Vasari  also  ascribes 
to  Pietro  a  wall-painting  in  the  Campo  Santo  at  Pisa,  depicting  the  Hermit's 
Life  ;  but  as  in  almost  every  case  the  information  of  that  writer  about  the 
artists  of  the  pictures  in  the  Campo  Santo  is  distinctly  wrong,  no   importance 


468  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

can  be   attached   to   his   opinion  here.      The  work  exhibits,  moreover,  no  real 
resemblance  to  his  signed  panel  pictures."" 

Of  all  the  works  of  Ambrogio  di  Lorenzo,  the  brother  of  Pietro,  Ghiberti 
most  admired  a  series  of  illustrations  of  a  Franciscan  legend  in  the  cloister  of 
the  church  of  S.  Francis  at  Siena  ;  this  has  perished,  all  but  a  few  fragments 
now  placed  in  the  church.  But  these  fragments,  though  scratched,  defaced, 
and  injured,  have  not  been  repainted  or  otherwise  tampered  with,  and  their 
freshness  of  execution  and  vividness  and  dignity  of  expression  can  still  be 
admired.  In  the  scene  which  depicts  the  execution  of  the  Franciscan  monks, 
the  look  of  terrified  expectancy  in  two  who  are  awaiting  their  death-stroke, 
while  they  watch  the  execution  of  one  of  their  companions,  is  in  the  highest 
degree  striking  ;  and  not  less  so  the  heads  of  cardinals  and  bystanders  in 
another  scene  on  the  opposite  wall. 

Then  we  have  also,  though  in  a  bad  state,  Ambrogio's  great  wall-painting 
in  the  Hall  of  the  Nine  in  the  Public  Palace ;  this  is  the  most  important 
which  remains  of  all  the  political  allegories  painted  in  Italy  at  that  period. 
Ambrogio,  according  to  the  official  account  of  disbursements,  executed  the 
series  between  A.D.  1338  and  1340;  their  purpose  was  to  set  forth  in  the 
place  of  the  session  of  the  highest  public  authorities,  the  nature  and  the 
blessings  of  good  government,  and  the  horrors  of  bad.  On  the  principal 
wall  is  the  great  composition  illustrating  Good  Government,  A  powerful 
and  kingly  figure  of  an  aged  man,  on  a  colossal  scale,  sits  as  the  personi- 
fication of  the  Commune  of  Siena  on  an  elevation  in  the  centre  of  a 
long  seat  covered  with  rich  hangings  ;  he  is  dressed  in  black  and  white,  the 
colours  of  the  city,  and  in  his  hands  are  a  sceptre  and  the  seal  of  Siena — the 
Madonna  between  two  angels — \\nth  the  inscription,  Conwiiine  Senarum  aim 
civilibus  virtiitibus ;  at  his  feet  lies  the  heraldic  badge  of  Sena  Julia,  the  she- 
wolf  (not,  in  truth,  very  like  one),  giving  suck  to  Romulus  and  Remus.  Six 
crowned  female  figures  sit  to  right  and  left  ;  these  are  the  Virtues,  Justice, 
Temperance,  Wisdom,  Prudence,  Fortitude,  and  Peace  ;  and  over  the  head  of  the 
regent  float  the  three  theological  virtues,  Faith,  Hope,  and  Charity.  In  front  of 
and  below  him  on  either  side  are  drawn  up  armed  companies  of  horse  and  foot 
in  full  face  towards  the  spectator  ;  in  front  of  the  more  numerous  group  on  the 
right  are  prisoners  in  chains.  From  the  left  a  procession  of  twenty-four  honour- 
able citizens  advances  towards  the  ruler  ;  they  are  holding  by  a  cord  which 
passes  between  them,  one  end  of  which  the  ruler  holds  in  his  sceptre-hand,  while 
the  other  end  is  held  by  a  personification  of  Concord  enthroned  on  the  left  at 
the  far  end  of  the  procession.  Even  here,  however,  the  cord  does  not  terminate, 
but  parts  into  strands,  one  red,  and  the  other  white,  each  of  which  passes  up 
to  where  it  is  wound  about  the  body  of  an  angel  standing  one  in  each  scale 
of  a  great  balance.  These  angels  represent  Justitia  Distributiva  and  Justitia 
Comimitativa.     The  former  crowns  one  kneeling  man  and  beheads  another  ;  the 


MEDLEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD. 


469 


o 


47 o  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

latter  puts  money  into  a  bowl  for  one  and  gives  weapons  to  another.  These 
two  angels  are  the  attributes  of  a  great  personified  Justice  who  is  enthroned 
between  them  above  the  figure  of  Concord,  and  on  whose  head  are  balanced 
the  scales  which  Sapientia,  at  the  very  top  of  the  picture,  holds  out  (Fig.  130). 
Besides  the  Latin  superscriptions,  Italian  verses  arc  added  in  explanation  of 
the  subject. 

The  programme  for  this  work  must  have  been  drawn  out  for  the  painter 
by  some  staunch  scholastic  and  Aristotelian.  It  presented  no  small  difficulties, 
and  its  deliberately  didactic  aim  obtrudes  itself  forcibly,  compelling  the  artist 
to  help  himself  out  by  unpictorial  expedients,  such  as  that  ribbon  which,  passing 
along  through  the  procession  of  burghers,  gives  so  quaint  a  material  embodi- 
ment to  the  intellectual  idea  of  the  connection  between  justice  and  good  govern- 
ment. Even  so,  however,  Ambrogio  acquitted  himself  well  of  his  undertaking. 
Notwithstanding  the  severely  symmetrical  elevation  of  the  two  sides  of  the 
composition,  notwithstanding  the  absence  of  distance,  whereby  its  several  groups 
have  for  the  most  part  to  be  simply  superposed,  and  notwithstanding  the 
archaic  fashion  of  adopting  various  scales  for  the  stature  of  the  various  figures 
and  personifications,  the  painter  has  none  the  less  achieved  a  composition  of 
majestic  construction,  and  in  the  personages  both  named  and  unnamed  types 
full  of  stateliness  and  life.  Among  the  Virtues,  for  instance,  appears  such  a 
superb  invention  as  the  Peace,  a  woman's  figure  full  of  grace,  in  softly  flowing 
drapery,  and  leaning  back  restfully  among  her  cushions,  her  foot  propped  on  a 
cast-down  shield  and  helmet,  and  in  her  hand  the  olive-branch,  a  very  embodi- 
ment of  lovely  and  beneficent  rest.  In  the  figure  of  Concord,  the  antique 
proportions  of  Duccio  are  transformed  into  a  freer  style,  and  the  head  shows 
a  nobility  of  form  such  as  Giotto  had  perhaps  scarcely  attained,  in  the  perfect 
oval,  the  finely-shaped  mouth  and  nose,  the  delicately  circumscribed  forehead 
and  well-cut  eyes,  with  their  tender  expression  of  sublimity  and  soul  (Fig.  131). 

On  the  west  wall  are  portrayed,  with  every-day  reality,  the  practical  blessings 
that  follow  upon  good  government.  From  one  side  we  look  into  the  town, 
with  its  walls  and  towers,  palaces  and  domes,  and  see  all  kinds  of  workmen  in 
the  workshops,  traffic  in  the  markets,  the  horseman  with  his  sweetheart  on 
the  pillion,  the  dancing  of  innocent  maidens  in  the  public  place.  Over  the 
gate  floats  the  genius  of  Security  [Secuj'itas)  a  long  scroll  in  one  hand  and  in 
the  other  a  gibbeted  malefactor  ;  outside,  in  the  country,  are  more  scenes  of  a 
similar  busy  and  happy  life,  of  agriculture,  hunting,  fishing,  and  travelling. 

On  the  third  wall,  and  corresponding  with  the  first,  we  find  Tyranny,  a 
monstrous  armed  being  enthroned  before  a  fortress,  and  surrounded  by  the 
Vices,  with  Justice  trodden  down  under  his  feet  ;  farther  on  scenes  of  ravage  in 
town  and  country,  but  these  are  no  longer  recognisable. 

The  panel  pictures  signed  by  Ambrogio  are  much  injured  ;  they  are  w^orks 
of  competent  execution  and  much  expression,  but  his  full  power  is  not  displayed 


MEDL'EVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD. 


471 


in  them  as  in  the  wall-paintings  we  have  described.  They  consist  of  a  Presenta- 
tion in  the  Temple  (a.d.  i  342),  now  in  the  Academy  at  Florence,  showing  manly 
vigour  in  the  heads,  and  a  serious  attempt  at  true  perspective  in  the  architec- 
tural background,  and  an  Annunciation,  painted  A.D.  1344  for  the  Public 
Palace,  and  now  in  the  Academy  at  Siena. 

In   the  works  of  Simone  Martini  and   Pietro  and   Ambrogio  di   Lorenzo, 
Sienese  painting  shows  itself  equal  to  that  of  Florence.      But  soon  afterwards  it 


Fig-  131- 

declines  for  good  into  a  much  lower  position.  Average  capacity  becomes  less, 
originality  disappears,  the  majority  of  painters  seem  to  have  stuck  fast  in  an 
archaising  routine.  A  great  number  of  the  works  of  the  school  displayed  to- 
gether, as  in  the  gallery  at  Siena,  produces  anything  but  a  pleasurable  effect.  In 
the  second  half  of  the  fourteenth  century,  Barna  painted  a  set  of  uninteresting 
and  bungling  frescoes  from  the  Gospel  stories,  on  the  south  side  aisle  of  the 
Collegiate  Church  at  S.  Gimignano.  Lucas  Thom;e  is  regarded  as  the  pupil  of 
Barna;  he  is  authentically  heard  of  between  A.D.  1355  and  13S9,  and  several 
pictures  bear  his  signature  ;  among  others  a  Madonna  in  the  gallery  at  Siena, 
and   a  Crucifixion  in  the  Academy  at  Pisa,  dated   1366.      liutolo  di   Maestro 


472  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

Fredi  was  born  A.D.  1330,  and  died  A.D.  141 0  ;  he  was  respected  in  his  native 
town,  and  often  employed  officially,  but  as  an  artist  he  was  not  disinguished. 
He  painted  a  cycle  of  pictures  from  the  Old  Testament  in  the  north  aisle  of 
S.  Gimignano  (a.d.  1356),  and  later  some  panels  for  S.  Francesco  at  Montalcino. 
A  Descent  from  the  Cross  (a.d.  1382)  is  still  in  the  sacristy  there,  and  frag- 
ments of  an  altar,  with  scenes  from  the  Life  of  the  Virgin  (A.D.  1 38 8),  are 
partly  preserved  in  the  same  place,  and  partly  in  the  gallery  at  Siena.  Andrea 
Vanni,  born  A.D.  1322,  stands  still  lower  in  artistic  merit.  After  the  democratic 
revolution  in  Siena  (A.D.  1368)  he  also  appears  in  the  service  of  the  State, 
being  employed  on  embassies  ;  and  he  played  a  part  of  his  own  at  the  time 
when  at  Siena  petty  citizens  and  pious  women  like  S.  Catherine  were  active  in 
the  higher  politics.  Ugolino  of  Orvieto  is  also  one  of  the  painters  influenced 
by  the  Sienese  school.  He  painted  Scripture  scenes  and  the  Miracle  of  Bolsena 
in  the  Cappella  del  Corporale  in  the  north  transept  of  the  Cathedral  at  Orvieto 
A.D.  1364;  other  artists,  like  Pietro  di  Puccio,  w^ere  associated  with  him  in 
executing  the  frescoes  from  the  life  of  Christ  and  the  Virgin  in  the  choir.^^'^ 

The  last  straggler  in  whose  person  this  tendency  of  the  Sienese  school 
comes  to  an  end,  at  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century,  is  Taddeo  di  Bar- 
tolo  (/;.  at  Siena  1362,  d.  1422).  He  was  the  son  of  a  barber  called  Bartolo  di 
Mino,  and  not,  as  has  been  said,  of  the  painter  Bartolo  di  Maestro  Fredi.  A 
triptych  of  A.D.  1390,  now  in  the  Louvre,  with  a  Madonna  and  four  Saints,  was 
painted  by  him  for  a  church  at  Pisa  ;  it  shows  in  conception  and  method  an 
intentional  connection  with  the  earlier  school,  and  in  Mary's  features  there  is 
still  a  breath  of  the  old  Sienese  idealism,  almost  over-done  in  sentiment. 
After  working  a  great  deal  at  Pisa,  S.  Gimignano,  Perugia,  and  other  places, 
Taddeo  finished  (a.d.  1407)  his  principal  work,  the  wall-paintings  in  the  chapel 
of  the  Public  Palace  at  Siena,  containing  the  last  incidents  in  the  legend  of 
the  Virgin,  Saints,  and  medallions  of  the  Virtues.  The  Ascent  of  Mary  to 
heaven  is  full  of  character  ;  Christ  descends  through  the  air  to  raise  her  from 
the  grave,  the  Apostles  and  Jews  looking  on  are  deeply  moved  ;  the  com- 
position is  expressive  and  skilful,  if  without  any  greatness  of  motive  ;  the 
individual  figures  and  the  drapery  are  conv^entional.  The  painter  tries  to 
impress  the  spectator  almost  too  obviously  with  the  fact  that  the  Apostles 
cannot  see  the  Virgin,  although  she  is  floating  _,by  past  their  very  noses.  The 
background  is  formed  of  a  high  mountain  country.  In  A.D.  14 14  were  added 
the  mural  paintings  of  the  ante-chamber — a  gigantic  S.  Christopher,  and  figures 
of  celebrated  Romans,  as  well  as  other  antique  and  mythological  subjects. 

VI.  The  Campo  Santo  at  Pisa,  and  the  Expiration  of  the  School 
OF  Giotto. — At  the  close  of  Middle  Age  Tuscany  possessed  but  two  great 
schools  of  painting,  the  Florentine  and  the  Sienese.  Pisa,  though  the  chief 
home   of  sculpture,  had,  properly  speaking,  no    native   school    of  painters  ;    an 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.      "  473 

artist  like  Traini  stood  almost  alone,  and  besides  was  steeped  in  Florentine 
influences.  Nevertheless,  in  the  Campo  Santo  or  enclosed  burial-ground  at 
Pisa,  are  to  be  found  some  of  the  greatest  monuments  of  fresco-painting  which 
the  age  produced.  This  structure  was  completed  under  the  direction  of 
Giovanni  Pisano,  between  A.D.  1  278  and  1283,  and  terminates  that  great  group  of 
sacred  edifices  in  marble  at  the  extremitv  of  the  town,  which  includes  the 
Cathedral,  Leaning  Tower,  and  Baptistery.  It  consists  of  a  vast  quadrangle, 
surrounded  on  all  four  sides  by  a  wide  covered  gallery.  This  gallery  presents, 
towards  the  inner  court,  an  open  Gothic  arcade  of  lofty  proportions,  but  its 
rear  or  external  wall  is  blind,  and  affords  on  the  inside  an  ample  surface  for  a 
great  succession  of  monumental  paintings.  To  decorate  this  surface  artists 
were  invited  from  various  parts  of  Italy.  The  remains  of  their  work, 
imposing  though  in  many  places  defaced  and  faded,  are  still  to  be  seen  cover- 
ing the  whole  of  the  wall  space,  except  its  lowest  part,  along  which  are  ranged 
sepulchral  monuments  of  all  periods. 

The  accounts  of  Vasari  are  nowhere  less  to  be  trusted  than  in  w  hat  concerns 
the  pictures  of  the  Campo  Santo  ;  but  since  his  time,  much  light  has  been 
thrown  on  the  subject  by  documentary  evidences,  which  indeed  have  acquainted 
us  with  the  names  of  many  artists  otherwise  unknown.  It  was  not  till  several 
decades  after  the  completion  of  the  building  that  its  pictorial  decoration  as  a 
connected  whole  was  taken  in  hand.  Some  paintings  were  executed  in  the 
east  chapel  about  A.D.  i  300,  but  these  have  perished  ;  and  those  in  the  galleries 
themselves  were  not  begun  till  the  second  half  of  the  century.  From  A.D.  i  370  to 
1372  several  great  series  of  pictures  were  completed,  no  longer  by  help  of  private 
benefactions,  but  at  the  charges  of  the  Commune  ;  then  the  work  came  again 
to  a  standstill  till  the  scond  half  of  the  fifteenth  century,  when  it  was  resumed 
by  Benozzo  Gozzoli.  .         . 

The  work,  probably,  took  its  start  from  the  east  gallery,  next  the  chapel 
door.  The  series  between  this  and  the  south-east  angle  consists  of  a  Cruci- 
fixion containing  a  multitude  of  figures,  a  Resurrection,  a  Christ  appearing  to 
the  disciples,  and  an  Ascension.  Emotion  is  in  many  instances  effectively  ex- 
pressed ;  the  searching  and  touching  of  the  wounds  of  Christ  in  the  third  picture 
is  set  forth  with  much  realism  ;  there  are  many  bold  attitudes  and  successful 
foreshortenings,  as  for  instance  in  the  soldier  breaking  the  legs  of  the  thief,  and 
in  the  sleeping  guards  beside  the  tomb  ;  but  also  here  and  there  wc  find  .some 
ugly  types  and  violent  contortions.  Vasari  ascribes  the  series  to  Buffalmacco, 
and  Ghibcrli  also  mentions  that  this  painter  worked  in  the  Campo  Santo. 
Whether  this  information  is  accurate  we  must  leave  an  open  question;  but  at  any 
rate  these  pictures  are  the  work  of  some  late  disciple  of  the  school  of  Giotto. 

Beyond  comparison  more  important  are  the  paintings  adjoining  these  on 
the  south  wall — the  Triumph  of  Death  and  the  Last  Judgment.  Merc  again 
we  are  without  trustworth)'  information  as  to  their  author,  but  that  it  could  not 

3  1" 


474  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

have  been  Orcagna,  as  Vasari  alleges,  is  clear  from  his  authenticated  works, 
which  furnish  a  sufficient  standard  of  his  style.^^^  The  first  picture  (Fig.  132) 
illustrates  in  its  left-hand  portion  the  story  of  the  Three  Living  and  Three 
Dead,  but  according  to  a  new  and  individual  reading.  Through  a  rocky 
gorge  comes  a  lordly  train  of  hunters — three  kings  and  their  followers  on 
horse  and  foot  ;  suddenly  the  horses  recoil,  the  riders  avert  their  heads  in 
horror,  some  hold  their  noses  ;  for  there,  on  the  road  before  them,  lie  three 
open  coffins,  containing  mouldering  corpses,  with  snakes  crawling  about  them, 
and  their  royal  insignia  still  partly  recognisable.  From  the  rocks  an  aged 
hermit  has  just  descended  to  warn  the  great  and  mighty  of  the  vanity  of 
earthly  things,  while,  on  the  hill  above,  his  companions  linger  among  fruit-trees 
and  tame  creatures  before  their  cells,  one  quietly  reading,  another  milking  a 
hind,  with  the  peace  of  nature  to  gladden  their  days.  So  that  here  again,  as  in 
the  Spanish  Chapel  at  Florence,  we  find  the  contemplative  life  in  God  con- 
trasted, according  to  the  spirit  of  the  Dominican  scholastic,  with  the  active  life 
of  the  world.  The  same  Dominican  ethics  are  again  set  forth  in  the  right- 
hand  portion  of  the  picture,  which  is  only  parted  from  the  former  by  the  rocks 
in  the  landscape.  Death,  a  gigantic  female  genius,  with  the  wings  of  a  bat, 
comes  swooping  scythe  in  hand.  The  Awful  One  has  already  reaped  a  fruitful 
harvest  ;  at  her  feet  lie  the  dead  in  heaps,  men  and  women,  warriors,  citizens, 
and  monks,  pope,  bishop,  and  king  ;  passing  by  only  the  maimed  and  miserable, 
who  cry  in  vain  to  her  for  their  release.  The  souls  of  the  dead  fly  out  of  their 
mouths  in  the  likeness  of  naked  children,  but  are  at  once  seized  by  devils, 
hobgoblin  shapes,  who  drag  them  off  and  hurl  them  down  chasms  of  the  flame- 
vomiting  mountains  ;  it  is  only  by  exception  that  one  or  another  is  grasped 
and  rescued  by  an  angel.  Two  naked  genii  in  the  air  above  the  heaps  of 
dead  hold  up  the  principal  inscription  of  the  picture — genii,  or  if  we  are  to 
call  them  angels,  then  the  earliest  examples  of  those  naked  child-angels,  under 
whose  likeness  the  Cupids  of  antiquity  were  soon  to  live  again  in  the  art  of  the 
Renascence.  To  the  worldly  life,  which  we  have  thus  seen  leading  to  the 
terrors  of  death,  and  for  the  most  part  to  the  pains  of  hell,  has  now  once  more 
to  be  contrasted  the  contemplative  life.  This  is  represented  by  the  group  on 
the  extreme  right,  which  corresponds  in  every  particular  with  the  similar  group 
in  the  fresco  of  the  Church  Triumphant  in  the  Spanish  chapel.  Here,  as  there, 
a  company  of  men  and  women  with  lap-dogs,  falcons,  and  music,  pass  their 
time  in  a  garden  untouched  by  terrors,  and  solace  themselves  in  happy  pairs 
upon  a  sward  beneath  a  grove  of  pomegranates.  This  is  the  blessed  existence 
of  those  who  have  vanquished  sin,  and  above  them  hovers  a  flight  of  angels 
having  in  charge  the  souls  of  the  redeemed.  We  may  suppose  that  the  two 
genii  over  the  heads  of  the  seated  company,  now  transformed  by  some  restorer 
into  Cupids  with  reversed  torches,  may  originally  have  held  between  them  a 
scroll  with  an  inscription  like  the  similar  pair  farther  to  the  left. 


MEDL/EVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  475 

The  painter  of  this  famous  work  had  no  doubt  to  surrender  himself 
implicitly  to  the  service  of  scholastic  symbolism,  and  to  proceed  according  to 
the  prescription  of  some  preacher  and  moralist  of  the  order.  But  in  the  visible 
result  he  has  known  how  to  triumph  over  a  task  so  uncongenial  to  art.  For 
the  bliss  of  the  righteous  in  the  garden,  the  pleasant  life  of  the  rich  and  pros- 
perous among  his  fellow  countr}^mcn  furnished  him  the  model.  He  caught 
from  reality  the  tranquil  poetry  of  rural  existence,  the  worldly  pomp  of  princes, 
the  straits  of  the  poor  and  needy.  Though  his  embodiments  are  still  on  the 
whole  typical  rather  than  individual,  yet  they  furnish,  in  costume,  bearing,  and 
action,  a  characteristic  picture  of  their  time.  In  his  treatment  of  animal  life 
also,  we  discern  a  closer  observation  of  nature.  In  his  demoniac  conception  of 
the  incarnate  Death  our  nameless  master  rises  to  true  creative  heights.  He  is 
master  also  of  the  delightful  as  well  as  of  the  tragic,  and  shows  skill  in  the 
arrangement  of  the  multifarious  episodes  and  varied  scenery  of  the  whole, 
although  the  materials  of  his  landscape  are  in  truth  still  of  the  simplest  kind. 

The  next  picture,  bearing  the  marks  of  the  same  hand,  is  also  divided  into 
two,  a  Last  Judgment  and  a  Hell.  A  novelty  in  the  arrangement  of  the 
Judgment  is  the  placing  of  Christ  and  the  Virgin  on  equal  terms  beside  each 
other,  each  crowned,  throned,  and  surrounded  by  a  viandorla.  Christ  beckons 
the  righteous  and  dismisses  the  wicked  with  the  traditional  gestures.  Immedi- 
ately under  him  hover  a  group  of  angels  with  scrolls  and  trumpets  ;  among  them 
one  crouching  and  dismayed  is  particularly  expressive.  On  each  side  of  Christ 
and  Mary  are  enthroned  the  grave  and  characteristic  figures  of  the  Apostles, 
above  whom  float  angels  carrying  their  respective  instruments  of  martyrdom. 
Below,  the  ground  is  cleared  by  a  celestial  gendarmerie  of  panoplied  angels. 
At  command  of  their  Captain  a  youth  is  brought  across  among  the  redeemed  ; 
others  are  pitilessly  thrust  on  the  side  of  the  damned  ;  the  way  in  that  direction 
is  pointed  out  to  a  monk  while  he  is  yet  in  the  act  of  crawling  from  his  grave. 
Here  no  less  than  there  all  ranks  and  classes  are  represented.  Those  on  the 
right  of  Christ  kneel  in  pure  beatified  contemplation  of  God  ;  those  on  the  left 
wring  their  hands  and  hide  their  faces  wailing.  At  the  bottom  of  all,  frightful 
claws  and  fangs  emerge  from  the  clefts  of  the  rock,  and  clutch  at  women  stand- 
ing by  and  struggling  in  vain  to  escape.  This  episode  forms  the  transition  to 
the  picture  of  Hell,  which  is  parted  ofif  from  the  Judgment  by  the  wall  of  rocks. 
Coarse  re-paintings  here  disfigure  the  work,  whereas  in  the  adjacent  frescoes  a 
surface  cleaning  has  left  the  originals  tolerably  unimpaired.  The  infernal 
regions  are  planned  as  in  the  poem  of  Dante,  but  the  figure  of  Satan  reaches 
about  through  all  its  circles,  appearing  in  the  same  action  as  in  Giotto's  picture 
at  the  Arena  ;  but  whereas  Giotto's  Satan  is  naked,  that  of  the  Campo  Santo  is 
in  the  guise  of  a  monster  clad  in  iron.  Even  in  the  midst  of  his  grimmest 
imaginations,  the  artist  preserves  a  certain  seriousness  and  grandeur. 

The  third   great  wall-painting   of  this   scries  deals  with    a   subject   already 


476  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

customary  on  panels  of  the  Byzantine  school  : — the  life  of  the  Hermits  in 
Egypt.  It  consists  of  a  number  of  separate  groups,  some  of  them  conceived 
in  the  most  familiar  spirit  ;  these  are  crowded  close  together  in  the  landscape, 
which  extends  in  height  instead  of  depth.  The  lower  margin  is  formed  by 
a  river,  along  which  runs  the  high  road.  The  pious  hermits  sit  before  their 
cells  or  busy  themselves  with  useful  occupations.  One  fishes,  another  chops 
wood  ;  a  man  on  horseback  has  just  bought  some  fish  from  them,  and  rides 
away  over  a  bridge.  One  of  advanced  age  carries  a  wooden  spoon  ;  a  package 
of  similar  spoons  is  being  taken  off  for  sale  in  the  town,  on  the  back  of  a  tame 
gazelle.  A  woman  penitent  hushes  her  child  ;  a  brother  mortifies  his  fleshly 
desires  by  holding  both  hands  in  the  fire.  S.  Mary  of  Egypt  receives  the 
Sacrament  before  her  death,  S.  Anthony  is  fallen  upon  and  beaten  by  devils  ; 
elsewhere  he  drives  out  of  his  cave  the  tempter  who  has  insinuated  himself  in 
the  shape  of  a  woman  ;  again  he  mourns  over  his  dead  comrade  Paul.  Demons 
and  dragons  are  rendered  harmless  by  the  exorcisms  of  the  pious  brothers. 
All  these  episodes  are  generally  agreeable  and  full  of  life,  and  often  give  scope 
to  a  sly  spirit  of  humorous  enjoyment.  Vasari  ascribes  this  picture  without 
reason  to  Pietro  di  Lorenzo.  Little  as  it  will  bear  comparison  with  the  two 
former  in  point  of  composition  and  pregnancy  of  meaning,  it  yet  resembles 
them  in  certain  features,  and  may  be  inferred  to  be  the  work  of  the  same  hand. 
The  hermits  correspond  in  type  with  those  of  the  Triumph  of  Death,  and  the 
treatment  of  drapery,  animals,  and  landscape  details  is  similar.  In  all  three 
pictures  the  colouring  is  hard,  but  the  modelling  sharp  and  clear.  The  borders 
also  correspond,  and  the  three  pictures  are  further  alike  inasmuch  as  each 
occupies  the  whole  height  of  the  wall,  while  those  that  follow  are  all  designed 
in  two  superposed  bands. 

The  next  in  order  of  the  Campo  Santo  frescoes  are  a  series  of  six  from  the 
legend  of  S.  Ranieri.  The  three  in  the  upper  tier  are  the  work  of  one  Andrea 
da  Firenze  ;  the  three  in  the  lower,  of  Antonio  di  Francesco,  a  Venetian  ;  and 
they  were  painted  between  A.D.  1376  and  1386.^^^  In  telling  the  story  of  this 
Pisan  saint,  the  aim  of  both  the  painters  employed  has  been  to  strike  an  easy 
narrative  key  ;  they  show  little  remains  of  the  old  energy  and  grandeur.  The 
young  Ranieri  is  called  away  by  a  solemn  warning  from  the  joyous  life  of  the 
world,  and  from  dances  in  the  company  of  lovely  maidens  ;  he  does  penance  in 
a  monastery  ;  Christ  appears  to  him,  and  restores  him  the  sight  which  he  had 
lost  by  the  violence  with  which  he  wept  over  his  sins.  The  thought  of  leaving 
the  world  for  good  comes  to  him  at  sea  in  the  course  of  a  trading  voyage. 
He  overcomes  the  assaults  of  the  devil,  and  the  fury  of  wild  beasts  ;  has  visions 
of  the  Madonna,  and  of  the  Transfiguration  of  Christ  on  Mount  Tabor  ;  and 
feeds  the  poor  with  store  of  bread  which  consumption  does  not  diminish.  To 
this  point  the  story  is  brought  by  Andrea  in  the  pictures  of  the  upper  tier.  Of 
the  work  of  Antonio  below,  the  first  picture  is  the  only  one  that  is  preserved  to 


MEDLEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD  477 

any  purpose.  We  can  see  how  Ranieri  comes  home  on  board  the  ship  ;  how- 
he  distinguishes  the  water  from  the  wine  b\-  causing  the  cheating  landlord  to 
spill  it  over  his  dress,  and  further  how  he  sits  at  table  with  the  Canons.  Then 
follow  his  death,  his  burial  in  the  cathedral,  his  miracles  after  death — healings 
of  the  sick,  the  stilling  of  a  storm  through  the  invocation  of  his  name.  The 
two  masters  who  have  wrought  out  this  story  have  much  in  common,  including 
their  elaborate  .s}-stem  of  architectural  design,  which  provides  stately  and 
sumptuous  structures  in  the  backgrounds  of  their  work.  Andrea  perhaps  shows 
the  greater  charm,  and  especially  in  the  female  figures  of  his  first  picture  ;  his 
colour  seems  deeper  and  of  more  body.  His  successor  shows  occasionally  the 
more  realistic  grasp,  but  is  somewhat  inclined  to  scamp  the  drawing  of  the 
bodily  structure  and  the  design  of  drapery. 

The  six  succeeding  pictures  are  from  the  legends  of  SS.  Ephysius  and 
Hippol}-tus.  The  three  of  the  upper  tier  alone  remain  distinguishable,  and  are 
works  of  the  hastiest  kind,  executed  A.D.  i  392  by  Spinello  Aretino,  to  whom  we 
shall  return  anon.  Then  comes  a  set  of  six  from  the  stor)-  of  Job — compositions 
full  of  life  and  especially  deserving  notice  for  the  just  observation  of  animal 
nature  displayed  in  them,  as  well  as  for  the  richness  of  their  backgrounds  of 
city  and  mountain  scenery  ;  Vasari  gives  them  to  Giotto,  but  they  were  really 
painted  between  A.D.   1370  and   1372  by  Francesco  da  Volterra. 

To  the  period  upon  which  we  arc  now  engaged  belong  further  three  pictures 
from  the  Book  of  Genesis  in  the  upper  course  of  the  north  wall,  painted  accord- 
ing to  Vasari  by  Buffalmacco,  but  according  to  authentic  documents  by  Pietro  di 
Puccio,  a  master  from  Orvieto,  A.D.  1391.  The  series  of  three  is  introduced  by 
a  preliminary  picture  of  the  Creator  holding  a  huge  disk  with  the  circles  of  the 
universe,  behind  which  his  shape  is  entirely  hidden,  while  to  right  and  left  of 
him  are  seen  half-lengths  of  S.  Augustine  and  S.  Thomas  Aquinas.  Then 
follow  the  stories  of  Adam  and  Eve,  Cain  and  Abel,  and  the  beginning  of  that 
of  Noah  ;  the  several  scenes  are  greatly  crowded,  and  the  drawing  is  weak  and 
flaccid  in  the  nude  ;   technical  skill,  nevertheless,  is  shown  in  the  execution. 

We  thus  learn  that  the  majority  of  the  painters  who  worked  in  the  Campo 
Santo  are  to  be  reckoned  among  the  later  offshoots  of  the  school  of  Giotto,  and 
that,  leaving  aside  the  painter  of  the  so-called  Triumph  of  Death,  and  speaking 
of  those  only  whose  names  have  been  recovered,  no  great  artistic  individuality 
as.serts  itself  In  this  generation  the  chief  part  is  plaj'cd  by  men  skilful  with 
the  skill  of  mechanical  routine.  One  of  the  most  active  among  these  was  the 
above-mentioned  Spinello  Aretino,  who  died  A.D.  14  10,  and  had  been  a  pupil 
of  Jacobo  da  Casentino.  His  best-preserved  work  is  the  scries  in  illustration 
of  the  story  of  S.  Benedict,  at  San  Miniato  near  Florence.  With  great  facility 
of  composition  and  an  agreeable  vivacity  of  natural  presentment  in  all  parts 
of  the  composition,  this  work,  nevertheless,  exhibits  forms  superficially  made 
out,  and    painting  dexterous  indeed,  but  carrying  directness  to  the  point  of  the 


478  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

positively  coarse.  His  Passion  frescoes  painted  for  the  former  chapel  of 
S.  Nicholas  of  the  Church  of  Santa  Maria  Novella  in  Florence,  are  in  part  still 
preserved  in  a  room  of  the  dispensary  of  the  monastery.  Some  remains  by 
his  hand  are  to  be  found  in  his  native  Arezzo,  and  towards  the  close  of  his 
career  he  adorned  the  Sala  di  Balia  of  the  public  palace  at  Siena  with  pictures 
from  the  life  of  Pope  Alexander  III.  The  academy  at  Florence  possesses  a 
triptych  of  the  Madonna  with  saints  and  angels  signed  by  his  hand  and  bearing 
the  date  A.D.  i  391. 

His  contemporary  Niccola  di  Pietro  Cierino  completed  in  A.D.  1392,  as  we 
learn  by  an  inscription,  the  pictures  of  the  Passion  and  Resurrection  of  Christ  in 
the  chapter-house  of  the  monastery  of  S.  Francis  at  Pisa.  He  is  also  the  author 
of  the  pictures  of  the  story  of  S.  Matthew  and  of  the  Crucifixion  on  the  walls 
of  the  chapter-house  of  S.  Francis  at  Prato.  He  preserves  the  traditions  of 
the  school  of  Giotto  better  than  the  painters  last  named  in  so  far  as  he  aims  at 
depth  and  earnestness  of  expression.  At  the  same  time  he  is  without  individu- 
ality in  his  composition,  he  crowds  his  figures  too  much,  and  is  imperfect  in  his 
working  out  of  form  ;  there  is  care  and  skill,  however,  in  his  backgrounds  of 
landscape  and  architecture. 

Don  Lorenzo,  a  Camaldulese  monk  of  Florence,  who  worked  as  late  as  the 
beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century,  remains  faithful,  nevertheless,  to  the  old  style, 
and  with  all  his  carefulness  in  handling  does  not  go  beyond  that  style  in  draw- 
ing and  treatment  of  form,  though  his  painting  gives  pleasure  by  its  tender  and 
harmonious  colouring  and  the  warmth  of  sentiment  that  animates  his  somewhat 
constrained  and  unsteadily  planted  figures.  His  masterpiece,  signed  and  dated 
A.D.  141 3,  is  a  triptych  once  in  the  Camaldulese  monastery  at  Florence,  and  now 
in  the  Abbey  of  the  Order  at  Ceretto  near  Certaldo,  containing  a  Coronation 
of  Mary,  with  saints,  prophets,  and  minor  predella  subjects. 

Another  painter  of  the  same  succession,  and  scholar  of  Antonio  Veneziano, 
Avas  Gherardo  Stamina  (/;.  A.D.  1354,  d.  circa  A.D.  1408).  This  artist  was  em- 
ployed for  many  years  in  Spain  ;  but  no  authenticated  work  of  his  hand  is  known 
either  in  that  country  or  in  Tuscany. 

Vn.  Other  Provinces  of  Italy. — Of  the  paintings  executed  in  N?ples  of 
the  fourteenth  century  the  greater  part  were  the  work  of  artists  from  central 
Italy  or  Tuscany.^"^  We  have  seen  that  King  Robert  had  in  his  service  first 
Pietro  Cavallini,  and  afterwards  Giotto,  of  whose  work  nothing  indeed  remains 
in  the  city  ;  while  a  panel  executed  for  the  same  king  by  Simone  of  Siena  is 
still  to  be  seen  in  the  church  of  S.  Lorenzo  Maggiore.  A  fresco  which  exhibits 
the  stamp  of  Giotto's  school,  though  not  of  his  own  hand,  is  the  miracle  of  the 
Loaves  and  Fishes — a  neat  and  severe  composition  in  a  chamber  now  used  as 
a  furniture  warehouse,  which  is  contiguous  to,  and  originally  formed  part  of,  the 
monastery  of  S.  Chiara,  in  which  monastery  Giotto  is  said  by  Vasari  to  have 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  479 

painted  much.  Much  weaker  is  a  picture  on  the  wall  of  the  refector}- — a  Christ 
enthroned  with  six  saints,  and  before  him  the  members  of  the  Ro}-al  Famil)- 
on  their  knees.  Vasari  ascribes  to  Giotto  the  painting  of  the  roof  in  the  chapel 
of  the  Incoronata ;  but  they  are  of  later  origin,  the  chapel  itself  having  been 
first  founded  A.D.  1352  by  Queen  Johanna  I.  and  her  husband  Lewis  of 
Tarentum  in  memory  of  the  coronation  of  the  former.  The  eight  compartments 
of  the  vaulting  contain  pictures  of  the  Seven  Sacraments  and  the  Triumph  of 
the  Church.  Each  Sacrament  is  represented  b}-  a  lively  incident  from  real  life  ; 
that  of  marriage,  for  instance,  by  the  betrothal  of  a  princel}-  pair,  evidently 
referring  to  the  Queen  herself  The  situations  arc  for  the  most  part  well 
observed  and  grasped  with  much  simplicity,  although  they  have  been  brought 
with  difficulty  into  the  required  spaces.  The  rich  and  gorgeously-coloured 
architecture  of  the  building  is  everywhere  carefull}'  copied  ;  the  colouring  is  full- 
bodied,  with  brownish  modellings  in  the  flesh  parts.^-^  At  Eboli  a  Crucifixion 
on  the  wall  of  the  church  of  S.  Francis  makes  us  acquainted  with  a  deserving 
Neapolitan  follower  of  Giotto,  in  the  person  of  Robertus  de  Oderisio,  by  whom 
the  work  is  signed. 

In  Sicily  we  only  find  in  this  age  a  continuance  of  the  traditional  practice 
of  mosaic,  but  with  bad  drawing  and  paltry  skill,  in  the  three  apses  of  the 
Cathedral  of  Messina,  with  figures  of  Christ,  the  Virgin,  and  Saints,  and  as 
donors,  Frederick  II.  of  Aragon  and  his  family.  The  date  of  these  decorations 
is  about  A.D.  I  330. 

Rome,  in  the  same  age,  abandoned  by  the  Popes  and  given  over  to  per- 
petual revolution,  plays  no  part  at  all  in  the  history  of  art.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  signs  of  a  modest  local  activity  can  be  traced  in  certain  districts 
of  the  Umbrian  Apennine,  and  in  the  March  of  Ancona.  Several  frescoes  of 
this  period  are  to  be  found,  for  instance,  in  Gubbio.  The  date  A.D.  1403  is 
attached  to  the  Madonna  del  Belvedere  by  Ottaviano  di  Martino  Nelli  in  the 
Church  of  Santa  Maj'ia  Nuova  at  that  place.  This  is  a  rich  composition  with 
angels  playing  music  and  holding  tapestries,  the  Saviour  amid  a  glory  of  angels 
holding  the  crown  above  the  head  of  Mary,  and  Saints  ^Emilianus  and  Anthon)-, 
before  whom  kneel,  as  donors,  a  husband  and  wife  of  the  family  of  Pinoli  ;  the 
.latter  was  evidently  dead  at  the  time  that  the  picture  was  painted  ;  she  is  repre- 
sented as  supported  by  an  angel  while  the  child  Christ  turns  quickh'  towards 
her.  The  drawing  and  modelling  are  strikingl}-  weak,  the  hands  misunderstood 
or  mannered,  but  the  heads  breathe  a  spirit  of  pensive  blandness  which  recalls 
the  contemporary  style  of  the  Lower  Rhenish  school  of  the  North,  and  which 
is  enhanced  by  a  corresponding  cheerfulness  of  colouring.  The  draperies  are 
enriched  with  large  and  manifold  patterns  in  gold.  The  blue  ground,  too,  is 
covered  with  a  red  and  gold  diaper.^"'*  Our  notices  concerning  the  painter  of 
this  piece  come  down  as  late  as  a.d.  1444  ;  nevertheless  liis  work  does  not  depart 
from  the  style  of  the  fourteenth  century. 


48o  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

Not  far  from  Gubbio,  at  Fabriano,  lived  Alegretto,  or  Gritto,  Nuzi,  who  lived 
for  a  time  at  Florence,  and  belonged  to  the  painters'  confraternity  in  that  city. 
Signed  panels  by  him  are  the  Madonna,  A.D.  1365,  in  the  Christian  Museum  of 
the  Vatican,  another,  A.D.  1369,  in  the  Cathedral  at  Macerata,  and  another  at 
Berlin,  together  with  which  should  be  reckoned  the  Crucifixion  which  has  been 
detached  from  the  back  of  the  same  panel.  These  exhibit,  together  with  many 
reminiscences  of  Giotto's  style,  greater  slenderness  of  form  and  timidity  of 
movement ;  the  expression  is  attractive  and  gentle.  From  the  school  of  this 
master  proceeded  Gentile  da  Fabriano,  whose  acquaintance  we  shall  make  in 
the  next  period. 

In  Northern  Italy  a  distinct  group  is  formed  by  the  schools  of  Bologna 
and  Modena.  Bolognese  painters  like  Vitale  and  Lippo  di  Dalmazio  approach 
in  style  the  school  of  Giotto,  but  are  deficient  in  force,  and  incline  in  their 
execution  towards  the  petty  and  mannered.  Some  ill-preserved  wall-paintings 
in  the  Mezzarata,  a  chapel  outside  the  town  of  Bologna,  are  insignificant  works  ; 
for  their  author  we  have  the  name  oi  Jacobus,  written  by  himself  From  Modena 
sprang  that  Thomas  de  Miitina  who  was  employed  in  the  service  of  Charles 
IV.  at  Prague,  and  afterwards  Barnabas,  who  was  in  like  manner  employed 
elsewhere  than  in  his  native  city,  and  even,  as  we  have  seen  above,  invited 
to  take  part  in  the  decorations  of  the  Campo  Santa  at  Pisa.  In  two  Madonnas, 
however — one  of  A.D.  1367  at  the  Stadel  Institute  at  Frankfurt,  and  another  in 
the  Berlin  Museum — he  produces  an  archaic  effect  by  stony  expressions  and 
attenuated  hands,  for  which  an  affected  grace  is  no  sufficient  compensation. 
Neither  did  Venice  in  this  age  produce,  in  the  works  of  Niccola  Semitecolo 
and  Lorenzo  Veneziano,  anything  of  a  superior  merit.  These  masters  adhered 
alike  to  old-fashioned  types  and  old-fashioned  technical  processes.^'^^ 

The  only  seats  of  a  more  noticeable  artistic  activity  in  North  Italy  at  this 
period  were  Padua  and  Verona.  The  most  important  examples  still  existing 
are  those  at  Padua,  where  a  period  of  imposing  artistic  activity  had  been 
inaugurated  by  the  presence  and  work  of  artists  from  Florence,  and  of  Giotto 
at  their  head,  in  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century,  Verona,  poor  at  the 
present  day  in  paintings  of  that  age,  was  nevertheless  the  place  where  its  greatest 
artist  in  the  North  had  his  home  and  school.  Artistic  undertakings  were^ 
eagerly  furthered  by  the  families  of  those  princes  who  had  possessed  themselves 
of  authority  in  the  two  towns,  the  Carrara  at  Padua,  and  the  Scaligers  at  Verona. 
The  leading  master  of  all  this  group  was  Altichiero  da  Zevio,  at  Verona,  who 
is  mentioned  by  several  early  authorities,  as  well  as  by  Vasari.  Along  with 
him,  and  in  connection  with  the  same  works,  a  share  seems  to  have  been  taken 
by  Jacopo  Avanzi,  a  master  concerning  whose  origin  notices  are  at  variance.^"^'' 

The  most  important  series  of  paintings  connected  with  these  names  is  in 
the  Chapel  of  S.  Felice,  formerly  S.  Jacopo,  in  the  Santo  or  great  church  of  S. 
Anthony  at   Padua.      For  the  execution  of  these  Altichiero  received  payment 


MEDIAEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  481 

A-D.  1379,  three  years  after  the  completion  of  the  chapel,  which  was  erected  at 
the  cost   of  the   family  of  Bonifacio  dei   Lupi,  Marquis  of  Soragno.      Opposite 
the  arcades  which  open  from   the  chapel  into  the  church  is  a  great  composition 
of  the  Crucifixion,  divided  into  three  parts  by  painted  arcades  corresponding  to 
the  real.      In  the  central   compartment  is  the  Saviour  on   the  cross,  surrounded 
by  a  number  of  figures  whose  looks   are  directed  upwards,  and   most  of  whom 
are  seen  from  the  rear  ;   in  the  right-hand  compartment  the  soldiers  casting  lots 
for  the   raiment  of  Christ   amid   a   number  of  bystanders   pressing   round   and 
looking  on  ;   on  the  left  hand  the   group  of  the  Maries  and  holy  women,  while 
the   return   of  the   people   from   Golgotha  to  Jerusalem  introduces   a   new  and 
independent  episode  in  the  background.      The  west  wall  shows   a  much-injured 
votive  picture  of  the  donor  and  his  wife,  presented  to   the   Madonna   by   SS. 
James  and   Catherine.      Lastly,  in  eight   pointed   lunettes,  together  with   two 
pictures  on  the   east  wall,  is   contained  the  story  of  James   the  Elder   and    his 
corpse,  as  related  in  the  Golden  Legend  ;  this   subject  was   chosen  because   the 
donors   connected    the   origin   of  their   family  name,  Lupi,  with   the   Countess 
Lupa,  who   plays  a  part  in   the  story.      The   choice   furnished   the  artists  with 
material  as  yet  unused  for  pictorial   representation,  and   material   which  stimu- 
lated  their  powers  of  imagination.      The  series   opens,  in    the   lunette    of  the 
narrow  east   wall,   with   the  preaching    of  the  Apostle  against   false  prophet.s, 
while  the  lateral   groups  exhibit  his  enemies  conspiring  together  and  the  Devil 
carrying  away  the   magician    Hermogenes.      Then   follow  the  three  pictures   of 
the  south  wall.      Hermogenes,  when  the  Devil  has   let  him  go  at  the  command 
of  the  Saint,  forswears  his  magic  and  is  baptized  ;   but  the  Jews  lay  information 
against   the  Apostle,  who    is   condemned,  and  on  his  way  to  death   a  convert 
throws  himself  at  his  feet ;   farther  on  we  witness  his  execution.      Next  follows 
one   of  the  best   pictures   of  the   whole  series,  in   which   the  power  of  artistic 
story-telling    reaches    its    highest    point,    setting    forth    clearly  the    interaction 
of  the   mutual    episodes,  and   choosing   in   each  the   really  pregnant    moment. 
The    ship   on    which    the   body  of  James    is   conveyed    away   b}^  his   disciples 
Hermogenes  and  Philetus,  and  which,  by  God's  guidance,  has  been  brought    to 
land  at   a  castle  in  Spain,  lies  on  the  strand  ;   an  angel  sits  at    the  rudder,  and 
this   indication  leads  back    the  mind    to  the    miraculous   nature  of  the  vo\-a<7c 
and    the  motive  of  the  main  action.      The   disciples   have  carried    the  body  to 
land,  and    are    in  the  act   of  laying  it   down  upon  a   stone,  into  which    it  then 
and    there   miraculously  sinks   as   into  a  bed.      In   the  background  stand    two 
father  disciples  in  the  courtyard  of  the  castle,  entreating  the  owner,  the  Countess 
Lupa,  who   appears   with   her  ladies   on    the  balcony,  to  grant   them  a  resting- 
place   for  the  body  of  their  master.      The  picture  on  the  west  wall    shows  how 
the  Countess  causes  them  to  be  led  before  the  judge,  and  how  the)'  arc  thrown 
into  prison.      The  first  picture  on  the  north  side  is  again  particularly  beautiful 
and    characteristic.      The   disciples,    released    from    prison    by   an    angel    of  the 

3  Q 


482  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

Lord,  take  to  flight  with  the  body  of  the  Saint,  and  are  saved  by  the  breaking 
of  a  bridge  beneath  the  feet  of  their  pursuers  in  a  desolate  ravine.  The  head- 
long fall  of  man  and  horse,  and  their  struggle  to  extricate  themselves  from  the 
torrent,  yield  motives  full  of  life  and  character.  Next,  the  disciples  appear 
once  more  before  the  Countess,  and  this  time  we  see  the  wild  beasts  which 
she  gives  them  for  conveying  the  body  into  the  castle  miraculously  tamed  to 
the  amazement  of  the  multitude.  In  the  end  the  Countess  herself  is  con- 
verted, and  dedicates  her  castle  of  Compostella  to  the  Lord.  The  entire  series 
is  concluded  by  the  two  lower  pictures  of  the  east  wall — the  Saint  appearing 
to  the  king  in  a  dream  and  urging  him  to  battle  against  the  Saracens,  and  the 
Saint  appearing  in  the  midst  of  the  battle,  which  is  won  by  his  interposition. 

The  Chapel  of  S.  George,  an  independent  building  contiguous  to  the 
Santo,  had  been  founded  A.D.  1377  by  another  member  of  the  family  of  Lupi, 
namely  Raimondinus,  the  brother  of  the  aforesaid  Bonifacius.  The  pictures  in 
this  chapel  have  suffered  much,  but  have  at  any  rate  not  been  the  victims, 
like  those  in  S.  Felice,  of  modern  repainting,  and  they  give  a  still  clearer  idea 
than  the  others  of  the  style  of  Altichiero,  with  whom,  this  time  as  before, 
Jacopo  Avanzi  would  seem  to  have  co-operated,  but  to  what  extent  we  are  no 
longer  in  a  position  to  decide.^"'  On  the  entrance  wall  are  five  scenes  from  the 
Life  of  Mary  and  the  infancy  of  Christ  ;  on  the  opposite  wall  next  the  altar 
are  to  be  seen  the  Coronation  of  the  Virgin,  and  beneath,  a  great  Crucifixion. 
This  last  picture  is  richly  composed  ;  little  angels  flutter  about  the  cross  of 
Christ,  who  has  just  given  up  the  ghost ;  the  souls  of  the  two  thieves  are 
received  as  they  leave  their  bodies,  one  by  an  angel,  and  the  other  by  a  fiend. 
Below  crowd  the  people  on  foot  and  horseback  ;  they  look  up  towards  the 
Saviour,  whose  death  has  impressed  even  the  hostile  and  indifferent  ;  in  front 
are  John  and  the  holy  women  busied  over  the  swooning  Mar}^  Of  the  side 
walls,  one  contains  the  legends  of  SS.  Catherine  and  Lucy,  the  other  the 
legend  of  S.  George,  together  with  the  great  votive  picture  of  the  founder's 
family  in  adoration  before  the  Madonna  with  their  patron  saints.  The  legend- 
ary pictures  particularly  show  progress  in  the  art  of  composition.  Thus  in 
the  Release  of  S.  George  from  his  sentence  of  death  by  the  wheel,  angels 
have  come  down  to  shatter  the  instrument  of  execution  ;  the  executioners  fall 
prostrate  or  recoil  tottering  ;  the  Saint,  stripped,  and  with  his  body  still  bent 
back,  lifts  his  hands  in  thanksgiving  to  God  ;  the  armed  men  and  spectators  on 
both  sides  are  seized  with  amazement  (Fig.  133).  Or  see  again  in  what  a 
posture  of  dignity  S.  Lucy  stands  before  the  judge,  or  how  no  power,  not  even 
that  of  the  oxen  harnessed  for  the  task,  is  able  to  drag  her  to  the  place  of 
execution.  Clearly  as  the  principal  characters  are  always  made  to  stand  out 
among  the  rest  in  their  moments  of  exploit  or  suffering,  yet  the  broad  and 
varied  disposition  of  the  whole  scene,  with  its  multitudes  of  figures,  never  fails 
to  attract  the  spectator  with  lively  sympathy  to  the  study  of  all  its  parts.      The 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD. 


4S: 


individual  groups  and  figures  have  always  a  significance  of  their  own  which 
accounts  for  and  justifies  them.  Not  less  highly  developed  is  the  feeling  for 
the  environment  and  for  space.  The  buildings  which  form  the  background 
are  still  better  worked  out  here  than  in  S.  Felice  ;  rightly  understood  in  the  plan, 
in  the  perspective  approximately  correct,  and  so  well  designed  in  their  eleva- 
tion as  to  give  to  the  compositions  a  character  of  quite  peculiar  stateliness. 


Fig.  133- 


These  North  Italian  masters,  then,  Altichiero  and  Jacopo  Avanzi,  between 
whom  our  information  does  not  allow  us  closely  to  distinguish,  have  been 
formed,  in  the  first  place,  like  other  masters  of  the  age,  by  the  style  which  took 
its  origin  from  Giotto.  They  have  the  seriousness  and  depth  of  Giotto,  if  not 
all  his  pathetic  depth  and  intensity.  And  with  this  last,  they  miss  also  his 
roughnesses  and  vehemences  of  expression  ;  with  them  the  prevailing  mood  is 
that  of  a  tenderer  emotion,  and  a  purer  feeling  for  beauty.  In  the  types,  in 
the  management  of  drapery,  in  their  whole  principles  of  composition,  Altichiero 
and  Avanzi  still  show  their  connection  with  the  older  school,  but  the)-  have 
advanced  in  grasp  of  reality,  in  acuteness  of  observation  as  regards  actions 
and  gestures,  and  in  definition  of  character,  which  they  often  carry  bc)onil  the 
typical  to  the  individual.  They  are  capable  of  modelling  the  form  more  softly, 
and  even   exhibit  a  better  understanding  of  the  nude.      They  observe  animal 


484  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

life  as  accurately  as  human.  Much  as  by  all  these  means  the  traditional  style 
is  enriched  in  their  hands,  these  artists,  at  the  same  time,  do  not  exhibit  an 
impulse  towards  great  or  sweeping  innovation.  With  all  their  realistic 
leanings,  their  style  is  still  grave  and  measured,  even  in  the  representation 
of  the  most  tragic  motives.  Their  noble  tranquillity,  the  clearness  and  sim- 
plicity of  their  workmanship  in  drawing  and  colour,  are  qualities  that  charm 
and  satisfy. 

Among  the  mural  paintings  preserved  at  Verona,  several  are  of  a  kindred 
style  to  these  at  Padua  ;  for  instance,  the  Madonna  with  saints  and  donors 
above  the  funeral  monument  of  Federigo  Cavalli  in  S.  Anastasia  {d.  a.d.  1390). 
Other  masters  engaged  at  Padua  are  not  to  be  compared  with  Altichiero  and 
Avanzi.  One  of  them  was  Guariento,  by  whom  there  is  a  signed  Crucifixion 
in  the  gallery  at  Bassano,  and  who  executed  (a.d.  1365)  a  Coronation  of  the 
.Virgin  in  the  Hall  of  the  Great  Council  of  the  Ducal  Palace  at  Venice,  after- 
wards replaced  by  the  hand  of  Tintoret.^^^  By  him  were  also  the  paintings  on 
the  walls  of  the  choir  of  the  Church  of  the  Eremitani  at  Padua  ;  of  these  we 
can  still  trace  the  subjects  of  the  Celestial  Spheres  with  the  pictures  of  the 
Planets  and  the  Seven  Ages  of  Man.  An  altar-piece  of  the  Coronation  of  the 
Virgin,  signed  and  dated  A.D.  1367,  now  in  the  National  Gallery  in  London, 
is  the  work  of  one  Justus  of  Padua,  or  more  exactly,  Giiisto  di  Giovanni  de' 
Menabttoiy  of  Florence,  entered  on  the  registers  of  the  brotherhood  of  painters 
in  that  city  A.D.  1387,  but  afterwards  permanently  resident  at  Padua.  The 
same  painter  is  mentioned  by  early  authorities  as  having  carried  out  the  rich 
pictorial  decoration  of  the  Baptistery  of  Padua,  comprising  extensive  com- 
positions, with  a  colossal  bust  of  Christ  above  ;  in  the  dome,  and  lower  down, 
the  adoring  Mary  with  five  circles  of  angels,  prophets,  saints,  scenes  from  the 
Old  Testament,  two  Gospels,  and  the  Apocalypse.  In  this  master  we  recog- 
nise a  late  and  feeble  continuator  of  the  style  of  Giotto,  whose  colouring  is 
powerful,  but  whose  drawing,  expression,  and  choice  of  motives  are  dull  and 
clumsy.  He  still  seems  desirous  to  rival  Altichiero  in  the  richness  of  his 
compositions,  and  the  consequence  is  that  he  sacrifices  clearness  for  the  sake 
of  multitude  in  figures,  which  he  is  nevertheless  unable  to  make  alive. 

VIII.  Miniatures.  —  Italian  miniature-painting  experienced  a  great  and 
rapid  improvement  about  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  and  in  the 
fourteenth  was  capable  of  producing  ornamental  books  of  the  most  splendid 
kind,  which  neither  in  decorative  richness  nor  in  daintiness  of  illustration 
yielded  anything  to  the  best  productions  of  France.  We  shall  not,  however,  enter 
into  any  detailed  analysis  of  these  works.  Miniature-painting  is  important 
for  the  general  history  of  art  only  in  periods  which  have  left  insufficient  monu- 
ments or  none  in  other  kinds.  And  this  is  the  case  in  the  later  Middle  Age  as 
concerns  the  countries  of  Northern  Europe,  but  not  as  concerns  Italy,  which  on 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING — FINAL  PERIOD.  485 

the  contrary'  is  in  that  age  so  rich  in  other  monuments  that  from  the  illuminations 
of  manuscripts  we  have  hardly  an}-thing  new  to  learn. 

The  Italians  in  the  thirteenth  century  seem  to  have  been  stimulated  b)- 
French  example  to  attempt  to  give  a  more  artistic  elaboration  to  their 
manuscript-painting.  In  the  Bohemian  Museum  at  Prague  is  a  Concoj'dia 
discordantium  avioimni  by  an  Italian  hand,  in  which  the  various  law  cases  and 
their  pleading  before  the  judge  are  illustrated  in  thirty-eight  little  pictures.  These 
remained  faithful  to  the  Italian  Romanesque  taste,  not  without  traces  of  Greek 
feeling,  in  the  system  of  round-arched  arcades  which  frame  and  divide  the 
compositions,  as  well  as  in  the  uniform  movements  of  the  little  figures,  the 
types  of  the  heads,  and  the  antique  reminiscences  in  the  cast  of  drapery,  at  the 
same  time  as  they  show  the  effect  of  French  models  in  the  employment  of 
body-colour,  the  crude  juxtaposition  of  vivid  tones,  as  blue  and  scarlet,  and  the 
occasional  introduction  in  the  margin  of  comicalities,  rude  indeed,  but  still 
fresher  and  more  alive  than  the  main  subjects.  A  similar  change  is  perceptible 
in  the  Vatican  manuscripts  of  the  treatise  on  falconry  by  the  Emperor  Frederick 
J  J  129  -pj^g  Emperor,  beardless  and  seated  full  face  upon  his  throne,  is  a  typical 
figure  quite  symmetrically  treated  ;  but  in  the  little  vignettes  which  follow,  of 
huntsmen  in  the  act  of  letting  fly  their  hawks,  or  taking  part  in  the  chase,  there 
already  appear  instances  of  lively  conception  and  skilful  movement.  For 
instance,  the  naked  back  of  a  swimmer  is  well  done,  even  if  the  water  flows 
childishly  upwards  ;  and  so  is  the  back  of  a  huntsman  in  the  act  of  mounting. 
The  colours,  harsh  and  at  the  same  time  rather  sombre,  are  laid  on  within  black 
outlines.  Of  higher  artistic  value,  and  an  emphatically  Italian  character,  are 
the  pictures  of  the  months  at  the  head  of  a  psalter  in  the  Laurentian  Library  at 
Florence.  These  delicately  executed  little  figures  are  for  the  most  part  full  of 
grace,  quite  antique  in  type  and  costume,  and  capitally  handled  even  in  the 
nude.^^^ 

In  the  fourteenth  century  the  style  of  the  new  Tuscan  painting  completely 
penetrated  the  art  of  miniature  as  well,  but  even  then  the  French  taste  con- 
tinues to  show  itself  occasionally  in  the  marginal  ornaments  and  comicalities. 
The  library  of  the  Abbey  of  La  Cava,  near  Salerno,  posses.ses  two  works  written 
on  the  commission  of  the  abbot  Philip  de  Haya  (a.d.  i  3  16- i  33  i),  the  Speculum 
historiale  of  A.D.  i  320,  in  two  volumes,  and  a  Bible  written  by  the  scribe  Guido, 
which  are  characteristic  in  this  connection.  In  the  finest  examples  of  the 
purely  Italian  style,  which  correspond  to  the  tendencies  dominant  in  the  art  of 
the  country  from  the  days  of  Cimabue  and  Giotto,  modern  judges  have  often 
wished  to  recognise  the  hand  of  this  or  that  great  and  well-known  painter. 
But  there  is  no  single  instance  in  which  this  can  be  done  on  sufficient  authority. 
Simone  of  Siena  is  indeed  named  on  the  title-page  as  the  illuminator  of  a  X'irgil 
in  the  Ambrosian  Library  at  Milan,  but  only  in  a  di.stich  addctl  b\-  a  later 
hand  ;   and  the  workmanship  itself  falls  far  short  of  the  known   productions   of 


486  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

that    master.      In    Italy,    as    elsewhere,   the    art    of   illuminating    continued    to 
constitute  a  calling  by  itself.^"^^ 

But  in  this  art  also,  from  and  after  the  epoch  which  we  are  studying,  masters 
of  celebrity  begin  to  appear,  whom,  however,  we  know  only  by  their  names,  and 
not  by  any  authenticated  works,  inasmuch  as  none  exist  to  which  they  have 
appended  their  signatures.  Two  of  them,  Oderigi  of  Gubbio  and  Franco  of 
Bologna,  have  been  immortalised  by  Dante  in  the  Ptirgatory.  With  the 
former,  who  must  have  died  before  that  part  of  his  poem  was  written,  Dante 
had  held  more  or  less  intimate  personal  relations,  as  results  from  the  passage 
where  he  makes  him  speak  in  the  first  person.  As  the  poet  walks  along  beside 
the  procession  of  those  condemned  to  march  uphill  in  cowls  of  lead  as  the 
punishment  for  excessive  love  of  fame,  one  of  them  recognises  and  calls  him  by 
his  name  ;  whereupon  Dante — 

"  Say,"  cried  I,  "  art  not  Oderigi,  late 

The  glory  of  Gubbio,  and  glory  of  that  style 
Which  men  in  Paris  call  to  il/nnnnate  ?" 

"  Brother,"  said  he,  "  the  sheets  more  brightly  smile 
Pencilled  by  Franco  of  Bologna  :  now 

All  his  the  honour,  mine  in  part  erewhile. 
Truly  to  do  him  so  much  grace  as  this, 

Living,  I  had  not  brooked,  such  passion  mine 
Still  to  excel,  nor  my  heart's  aim  to  miss  : 

Here  of  such  pride  with  pangs  I  pay  the  fine." 

{Piirg.  xi.  79  sqq.^ 

According  to  Benvenuto  da  Imola,  who  wrote  his  commentary  about  A.D. 
.1  376,  Oderigi  himself  lived  in  Bologna.^^^  Vasari  mentions  the  name  of  a  third 
and  somewhat  later  illuminator,  the  Florentine  Don  Silvestro,  a  monk  of  the 
Camaldulese  Order,  who  is  said  to  have  flourished  about  A.D.  1350.  The  great 
choir-books  of  the  Monastery  degli  Angeli,  in  which  he  lived,  have  found  their 
way  into  the  Laurentian  Library,  and  some  of  them  are  as  old  as  the  end  of 
the  fourteenth  century  ;  but  in  none  does  the  name  of  Don  Silvestro  appear. 
They  have  in  many  instances  been  robbed  of  their  principal  pages,  especially  of 
the  first.  Some  great  initial  letters  said  to  have  been  cut  from  their  pages 
were  brought  to  England  by  Young  Ottley,  and  among  others  a  Birth  of  John 
the  Baptist,  now  in  the  Royal  Institution  at  Liverpool.  The  seventh  part  of 
the  AiitipJionarmm  Noctiirnuni  in  the  Laurentian  Library,  which  is  marked 
at  the  end  with  the  date  of  its  completion,  A.D.  1370,  shows  among  them  all, 
especially  in  some  half-lengths  of  saints,  the  most  delicate  echoes  of  the  st}-le 
of  Giotto. 

In  default  of  authenticated  works  by  those  miniature-painters  whose  names 
are  preserved  to  us,  we  nevertheless  possess  masterpieces  of  their  time  by  which 
we  are  enabled  to  judge  of  the  standard  of  excellence  which  it  had  attained. 
We    find    in    them    a    repetition,    in    composition,   t\'pes,   and    drawing,    of  the 


MEDL^VAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD. 


487 


characteristics  sometimes  of  the  school  of  Giotto  and  sometimes  of  that  of  Siena. 
In  the  marginal  decorations  and  initials  there  appears,  instead  of  the  minute 
thorn-leaf  pattern  of  the  French,  a  larger  class  of  patterns  in  con\entionalised 
Gothic  foliage,  in  the  midst  of  which  separate  bosses  of  gold  are  by-and-b)- 
introduced  with  excellent  effect.  Dante  was  right  in  laying  stress  on  the 
smiling  aspect  of  such  pictures.  A  blithe  and  tender  grace  prevails  in  the 
motives  as  in  the  handling,  which  consists   of  a   carefully-executed  body-colour 


Fig.  134- 


painting,  with  the  little  heads  delicately  modelled,  and  the  colouring  of  a 
blooming  cheerfulness  agreeabl}-  harmonised  with  a  gold  background.  Perhaps 
the  most  precious  of  all  the  existing  examples  of  the  period  is  the  Missal,  with 
the  legend  of  S.  George  in  the  same  volume,  in  the  archives  of  the  (."anons 
of  S.  Peter's  at  Rome.  The  arms  and  portraits  of  the  donor  show  that  it  was 
written  for  Giotto's  patron,  Giacomo  Gaetano  Stefancschi,  Cardinal  of  Sim 
Giorgio  in  Velabro.  It  includes  among  other  Saints,  in  one  of  the  pictures,  the 
hermit  Petrus  de  Murone,  afterwards  Pope  Celestine  \\,  and  must  therefore 
have  been  prcKluccd  Ijctwecn  A.D.  i  },2.'J ,  in  which  year  that  person  was  canonised, 
and  A.lj.   1343,  when  the  donor  died.       i  lu-  pictures  c(;nsist  of  a  detailed  .set  of 


488  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

illustrations  to  the  story  of  S.  George,  besides  saints  and  Scripture  illustrations 
to  the   prayers  which   precede  and    follow  it.      These  designs  are  always  placed- 
within  the   initials,  but   sometimes   intrude   beyond    the   frame   into   the   border 
(P'ig.    134).      The   little    figures   are   designed  with   much   intelligence  and   life, 
and  the  portrait  heads  of  the  Cardinal  have  real  individuality,  especially  that  at 
the  prologue  of  the  legend,  where  he   sits  in  the  character  of  author  writing  at 
his  desk.      In    the  British  Museum  is  preserved    a   copy  of  the    Latin    poem  of 
Convonevole  of  Prato  prepared   for  King   Robert  of  Naples  (a.D.  1309- 1343). 
It  contains  subjects  of  allegory  and  antique  mythology — the  seven  Liberal  Arts 
about  the  fountain  Hippocrene,  which  springs  beneath  the  stroke  of  the  hoof  of 
Pegasus — the  Muses  in  fourteenth  century  costume,  but  with  noble  motives  and 
heads  of  much  delicacy  and  animation.      A  manuscript  in  the  National  Library 
at  Naples,  containing   the   Treatises  of  Boethius  on   arithmetic  and   music,  has 
only  three   pictures,  introduced   between   the  two   treatises  ;   but  the   second  of 
these  is   among  the   most  beautiful   productions   of  Italian   miniature-painting. 
Enthroned   in  the   midst  sits  Music  with  her  organ,  a  woman  young  and   fair  ; 
above  her  we  see  the  half-length   of  David,  below  and   at   the   sides   a  singer, 
and   six   youthful   musicians   in   the   costume,  some  of  them  even  in  the  parti- 
coloured fashions,  of  the  time.      The  sentimentality  of  expression,  the  graceful 
movement  of  the  gently  swaying  bodies,  the  smallness  of  the  mouths,  and  partial 
closing  of  the  eyes,  bring  this  work  into  relation  with  the  school  of  Siena  rather 
than  with  that  of  Florence. ^^^ 

Unable  as  we  are  to  recognise  the  hand  of  Franco  of  Bologna  himself  in 
works  like  these,  however  worthy  of  his  fame,  we  nevertheless  can  say  generally 
of  his  home,  Bologna,  that  it  was  one  of  the  chief  seats  of  the  art  of  miniature- 
painting.  The  presence  of  the  university  caused  this  art  to  flourish  in  connec- 
tion with  the  book  trade.  The  name  of  a  Bolognese  illuminator  Nicolaus, 
occurs  in  several  MSS.,  as  a  New  Testament  (a.D.  1358)  in  the  Vatican  Library, 
a  missal  according  to  the  use  of  Rome  (A.D.  1374)  at  Munich,  and  a  Dominican 
missal  at  Venice.^''*  The  artist  with  whom  we  here  become  acquainted  is  one 
of  no  great  mark  ;  he  has  adopted,  generally  speaking,  the  style  of  Giotto  ;  he 
executes  his  heads  with  care,  and  sometimes  carries  their  expression  to  the 
point  of  pathos  ;  but  his  forms  are  faulty  and  his  motives  lack  originality.  At 
worst,  however,  these  miniatures  are  beyond  comparison  more  agreeable  than 
anything  which  the  same  age  produced  at  Bologna  in  the  way  of  pictures  on 
wall  or  panel.  In  the  class  of  illuminated  law  books  it  would  seem  that  many 
examples  may  also  be  referred  to  the  school  of  Bologna.^^^ 

Next  to  the  great  choir  books  of  this  period,  among  which  we  may 
also  note  those  from  the  church  of  S.  Francis  at  Pisa,  now  preserved  in  the 
Academy, — next  to  these  an  important  class  consists  of  the  manuscripts  of  the 
great  facts  and  writers  of  regenerated  Italy,  Dante  and  Petrarch.  Numerous, 
however,  as  are  the  illustrated  copies  of  the  Divine  Comedy,  there  rarely  occurs 


MEDLEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  489 

one  of  much  artistic  value.  An  Italian  manuscript  of  Petrarch's  Roman  History 
in  the  library  at  Darmstadt  belongs  to  the  latter  half  of  the  fourteenth  century; 
in  a  series  of  slightly  executed  narrative  vignettes  it  attempts  to  give  a  lively 
illustration  of  the  text,  after  the  manner  of  the  school  of  Giotto,  and  in  the  title- 
page  with  the  portrait  of  the  author  it  contains  one  real  work  of  art.  The  view 
of  the  poet's  study  presents  a  very  carefully  designed  interior  space,  in  which 
the  perspective  has  been  not  unsuccessfully  observed ;  and  the  head  is  thoroughly 
individual  in  character. 

It  occasionally  happens  that  miniatures  furnish  us  with  an  evidence  of 
artistic  activity  from  provinces  in  which  other  classes  of  monuments  are  want- 
ing ;  thus  Sicily  is  represented  by  the  Paris  manuscript  of  the  statutes  of  the 
Order  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  founded  A.D.  1352  by  Lewis,  King  of  Sicily  and  Jeru- 
salem. The  style  founded  by  Giotto  asserts  itself  here  also,  if  somewhat 
diluted,  in  forms  of  moderate  movement,  pale  flesh  tints,  low  tones  of  colour, 
and  well-composed  marginal  ornaments.'^'' 

Again,  it  often  happened  in  this  period  that  employment  was  given  to  the 
talents  of  Italian  illuminators  by  lovers  of  books  in  France.  The  most  signifi- 
cant proof  of  this  is  furnished  by  a  Paris  Bible  historiee,  with  explanations  in 
P^rench,  which  begins  with  a  symbolic  picture  corresponding  to  each  Old  Testa- 
ment illustration  and  on  the  same  page  with  it,  and  then  goes  on  to  simple 
illustration  of  the  life  of  Mary  and  the  New  Testament  in  continuous  order. 
Several  hands  have  had  a  share  in  the  pictures.  The  first,  that  employed  upon 
the  Old  Testament,  is  French,  the  architecture,  too,  corresponding  with  the 
Northern  Gothic.  With  the  legend  of  Mary  another  st\-le  begins.  The  best 
hand, — which  first  makes  its  appearance  in  the  picture  of  Mary  and  Joseph 
journeying  to  Bethlehem,  and  afterwards  recurs  in  single  pictures,  until,  from 
the  Crucifixion  on,  we  find  it  working  alone, — is  that  of  some  first-rate  Italian 
master.  The  name  of  Simone  Martini  has  been  suggested,  and  at  any  rate  the 
work  is  unmistakably  akin  to  the  Sienese  school.  The  slender  forms,  with 
their  well-studied  drapery  and  the  gentle  inclination  of  their  heads,  exhibit  a 
delicate  oval  type  of  countenance,  with  narrow  eyes  and  inspired  expressions. 
The  landscape,  taken  from  an  elevated  point  of  sight,  with  a  gold  ground 
instead  of  sky,  and  very  dark  trees,  has  much  breadth  of  treatment,  and  the 
architectural  designs  furnish  an  unmistakable  reproduction  of  the  Italian  Gothic 
with  its  coloured  marbles.  The  diminutive  figures  in  the  distance  are  of 
peculiar  delicacy.  Again,  in  a  Paris  Psalter,  of  which  tin-  illuminations  consist 
for  the  most  part  of  French  thirteenth-century  work,  there  appears  occasionally 
also  an  Italian  hand  of  the  fourteenth  century,  which  sometimes  has  turned  to 
account  designs  already  begun  by  the  P'rench  illustrator.  Among  others  that 
famous  amateur,  of  whom  wc  have  already  spoken,  Jean  Due  de  l^erri,  was  not 
always  content  with  his  excellent  PVcnch  and  Flemish  illuminators,  but  occasion- 
ally, as  is  proved  by  a  Prayer-book  in  Brussels,  empkn-cd  Italian  hands  as  wi'Il. 

\  1^ 


490  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

The  marginal  ornaments,  with  the  Duke's  well-known  emblems,  are  completely 
French,  but  the  Italian  hand  declares  itself  in  the  independent  pictures,  as,  for 
instance,  in  the  opening  design  of  the  Duke,  with  John  the  Baptist  and 
S.  Andrew,  on  his  knees  before  the  Madonna,  who  gives  the  breast  to  the  Child. 
But  in  this  case  we  can  see  that  the  Italian  employed  must  have  been  one  who 
had  lived  in  the  North,  by  the  way  in  which  he  accommodates  himself  to  the 
Northern  architecture,  and  by  the  windmills  which,  in  the  subject  of  the  betrayal 
of  Christ,  he  has  introduced  into  the  background.^"'^ 

Conclusion. — In  connection  with  that  passage  of  Dante  in  which  mention 
is  made  of  Giotto,  his  commentator,  Benvenuto  da  Imola,  concludes  what  he 
has  to  say  with  the  following  words,  alluding  to  the  verses  about  him  and 
Cimabue  : — "  And  let  it  be  noted  that  Giotto  still  lords  the  field,  inasmuch  as 
there  has  appeared  no  greater  master  than  he,  even  though  he  may  sometimes 
have  committed  great  faults  in  his  works."  This  expression,  on  the  part  of  an 
author  writing  A.D.  1376,  is  very  significant.  By  that  time  men  were  indeed 
aware  that  in  many  points  the  pictures  of  Giotto  were  incorrect,  and  that  the 
art  of  painting  stood  in  need  of  a  further  development.  But  they  were  still 
dominated  by  the  powerful  influence  of  his  genius,  which  had  been  followed  by 
none  of  equal  grasp.  After  his  predecessors  had  made  the  first  timid  attempts 
to  emancipate  themselves  from  the  Byzantine  manner,  Giotto  had  all  at  once 
introduced  a  new  way  of  intellectually  conceiving  the  subjects  of  art,  which 
quickly  led  to  new  modes  of  representation,  new  standards  of  form  and  treat- 
ment. On  the  level  to  which  painting  had  been  raised  in  the  hands  of  Giotto, 
it  remained  standing  for  nearly  a  century  after  him.  His  Florentine  successors 
may  here  and  there  soften  down  the  rough  vigour  of  their  master,  or  may  here 
and  there  introduce  a  richer  motive  in  composition  or  expression,  but  essentially 
they  are  contented  to  maintain  and  carry  on  his  style,  which  in  the  course  of 
time  assumes  in  their  hands  the  stamp  of  a  tradition  and  a  convention.  Of 
more  independent  value  are  the  products  of  such  artists  and  artistic  movements 
as  stood  more  apart  from  the  direct  influence  of  Giotto.  Of  this  Florence 
affords  an  instance  in  Orcagna,  who  transcends  the  school  of  Giotto  with  his 
greater  refinement  in  the  working  out  of  form,  and  with  his  spirituality  of 
expression  ;  and  Siena  in  her  school  at  large,  the  members  of  which  adhere 
to  their  own  traditions,  developing  especially  a  mood  of  tender  lyrical  sentiment 
peculiar  to  themselves,  until  by-and-by  Ambrogio  di  Lorenzo  approximates 
more  nearly  to  the  strength  of  the  great  Floretitine.  Towards  the  close  of  the 
fourteenth  century  we  discern  increased  leanings  towards  the  close  observation 
of  nature,  with  greater  richness  of  composition  and  elaboration  of  backgrounds 
— leanings  which  are  more  successfully  exemplified  in  the  works  of  the  North 
Italian  masters,  Altichiero  and  Avanzi,  than  in  those  of  the  Tuscans  themselves. 
But  a  further  development  in  the  true   sense   of  the  word — a  development  by 


MEDL^VAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD.  491 

which  the  embodiments  of  art  should  be  broui^ht  into  full  correspondence  with 
the  ideas  embodied,  and  which,  to  the  spiritual  truth  of  conception  now  attained, 
should  add  material  truth  of  representation — such  a  development  could  only 
come  about  in  connection  with  a  general  transformation  of  the  national  culture 
such  as  it  was  reserved  for  the  fifteenth  century  to  witness. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE    MAHOMMEDAN    RACES. 

Art  of  the  East  essentially  decorative — The  Propliet  concerning  images — Mutual  influence  of  Eastern  and 
Western  arts  after  Moslem  conquest — ^Animal  design  in  Arab  embroideries — Figure  paintings  in  the 
Alhambra — Analogous  representations  first  in  Arabic  and  later  in  Persian  MSS. — Chinese  and  Japanese 
painting  not  inchided  in  scope  of  present  work. 

The  art  of  the  East  is  mainly  and  essentially  decorative,  even  when  its  technical 
processes  are  the  same  which  Christian  races  employ  for  painting  in  the  Western 
sense  of  the  word.  All  races  alike  have  set  out,  indeed,  from  the  practice  of 
mere  surface  decoration,  whether  in  wall-painting,  glass-painting,  or  tapestry. 
But  in  the  natural  evolution  of  the  art  Western  races  have  been  led  on  to  a 
mode  of  treatment  which  transcends  the  merely  decorative,  and  to  representa- 
tions from  which,  though  applied  upon  a  flat  surface,  the  effect  of  flatness  is 
removed.  The  art  of  the  East,  on  the  contrary,  clings  to  its  original  aim. 
Colour,  which  for  painting  in  its  developed  state  is  only  a  means,  continues  for 
it  to  be  an  end  in  itself.  Its  main  point  lies  in  its  character  as  ornament,  and 
for  art  transc<jnding  the  limits  of  ornament  the  Oriental  genius  has  not  felt  the 
need. 

The  condemnation  of  images  by  the  Prophet  was  rather  the  expression 
than  the  cause  of  this  feeling  of  the  Eastern  races  with  regard  to  art.  No 
express  religious  prohibition  of  images  is  indeed  to  be  found  in  the  text  of  the 
Koran.  The  only  passage  that  can  be  cited  to  the  purpose  is  the  following : — 
"  O  ye  faithful,  of  a  truth  wine,  gaming,  images,  and  the  casting  of  lots  are 
things  to  be  held  in  abhorrence."  The  text  then  goes  on  to  denounce  idolatry, 
and  makes  it  clear  that  by  images  are  understood  the  works  of  sculpture  only. 
It  is  in  the  oral  utterances  attributed  by  tradition  to  the  Prophet  that  the 
passage  for  the  first  time  occurs,  "  Woe  unto  him  who  paints  the  likeness  of  a 
living  thing  ;  on  the  Day  of  Judgment  those  whom  he  has  depicted  will  rise 
up  out  of  the  grave  and  ask  him  for  their  souls.  Then,  verily,  unable  to  make 
the  work  of  his  hands  live,  will  he  be  consumed  in  everlasting  flames."  ^^^ 

When  the  tribes  of  the  desert  from  whom  the  great  religious  uprising 
among  the  Arabs  had  gone  forth,  had  conquered  some  of  the  ancient  homes 
of  classic  civilisation — Syria,  Egypt,  Sicily,  and  Spain — they  took  into  their 
own  service  the  artistic  dexterities  which  they  found  existing  among  the 
conquered.  As  an  example  of  this  we  have  already  become  acquainted  with 
the  mosaics  of  the  mosque  of  Loubet-ez-Sakrah  at  Jerusalem  ;  these,  according 


MEDI.-EVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD. 


493 


to  the  Arab  predilection,  are  exclusive!}'  ornamental.  Motives  of  ornament  and 
landscape  are  found  in  combination  in  a  mosque  at  Damascus,  for  the 
rebuilding  of  which  the  Khalif  Walid  emploj'cd  artists  summoned  from  B\-zan- 
tium.  The  ornamental  style  comes 
forward  more  and  more  decisively  ^| 
as  the  independent  Arab  taste  {^i 
begins  to  develop  itself.  Plant 
ornaments  tend  more  and  more 
to  turn  into  mere  linear  patterns, 
bands  with  inscriptions  become 
the  leading  decorative  motives, 
and  the  whole  system  of  forms  is 
determined  by  the  principles  of 
textile  art,  the  art  essentially 
characteristic  of  the  East.  The 
hangings,  woven  stuffs,  and  em- 
broideries of  the  Oriental  races 
exercised  at  the  same  time  a 
powerful  influence  on  the  West, 
where  the}'  were  brought  as  mer- 
chandise and  where  they  intro- 
duced a  multitude  of  fantastic 
motives  for  ornamental  use. 

But  these  hangings  themselves 
demonstrate  that  the  warning  of 
the  Prophet  against  the  represen- 
tation of  natural  objects  was  not 
always  practically  legislative  a- 
mong  the  races  of  Islam,  inas- 
much as  they  exhibit  in  great 
abundance  the  constantly  recur- 
ring shapes  of  animals.  These 
animals  were  at  the  same  time 
treated  according  to  the  exigen- 
cies   of    the    taste    for     pure    or- 


namentation ;     their     fcjrms     were 


F'«-  135- 


conventionalised  no  less  than  the  forms  of  jjlaiits,  and  fraiikl}-  transformed 
into  many  c<Mistituent  elements  of  a  s}Mnnietrical  surface  pattern.  .And  this 
happened  although  the  Arabs  were  In-  no  means  naturall}'  tiestitute  of  the 
instinct  for  observing  nature,  and  especiall}'  ain'mal  nature.  The  (ierman 
imperial  mantle  which  we  have  ahead}'  mentioned,  the  production  ol  Arabian 
workmen    in  the   royal    factor}'  at  Palermo,  exliibits,  in  two  s}'inmetrical  groups 


494  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

of  camels  fallen  on  by  lions,  a  vehement  dramatic  life  and  a  surprising  expres- 
siveness in  the  'rendering  both  of  helpless  collapse  and  ferocious  attack  ;  and 
this  notwithstanding  that  the  animals  are  represented  quite  without  shading, 
in  the  likeness  of  a  mere  play  of  surface  lines  and  ornaments  (Fig.  135).  If 
•elsewhere  there  occur  isolated  figures  of  men  or  brutes  in  the  patterns  of  wares 
or  furniture,  still  it  is  only  late,  and  then  always  under  the  visible  influence  of 
Christian  art,  that  we  find  representations  really  pictorial  and  carried  beyond 
the  confines  of  mere  decoration. 

The  most  important  existing  examples   of  such  work  are  furnished   by  the 

pictures  on  the  roof  of  the  Alhambra.^^^      The  Arabs  in  Spain,  who  represented 

the  hiirhest  culture   of  their  race  and   lived   in  continual   intercourse  and  emu- 

lation   with   Christendom,   were   capable   on   special   occasions   of  emancipating 

themselves  alike  from  the  splendid  onesidedness  of  their  own  peculiar  taste  and 

from  the  prejudices  of  their  religious  creed.      In  one  of  the  great  halls  opening 

•out  of  the  Court  of  Lions,  namely  that  called  the  Hall  of  Justice,  the  vaulting 

of  three  niches  is  filled  by  the  pictures  in  question  ;   their  form  is  long,  rounded 

at   the   narrow  ends,  and  within   the   space   thus   circumscribed   run  the   figures 

with  their  feet   always  directed   outwards.      The  principal  picture  in  the  central 

niche  contains  two   rows  of  venerable  figures   in  Arabic  costume,  holding  their 

swords,  and   most  of  them   making  an  expressive  gesture  with  the   right  hand. 

Under  each  are  the  arms  of  Granada,  an  oblique  bar,  gold,  on  a  field  gules  ; 

and   the   same   arms   supported   by  two   lions   recur  at  the  two   narrow  ends  of 

the  composition.      The  two  other   pictures  exhibit   scenes  of  chivalry,  in  which 

both  Arabs  and   Christians  take  part,  and  of  which  the  subjects  are   perhaps 

drawn    from   poetry.      In   the   niche   left   of  the   centre   appear   Christians   and 

Arabs  together   engaged   in   the  chase,  some   mounted   and   some  on   foot,   in 

combat  with  boars,  bears,  and  lions  ;    Christian  and  Arab  alike  present  their 

spoils  to  their  lady-loves,  the  former  kneeling,  the  latter  haughtily  erect.      The 

centre    of    each    compartment    taken    lengthways    is    formed    b>'    a    fountain 

surmounted   by  the   figure  of  a  dog  spouting  water  ;   a   knight   and   lady  gaze 

into   the  basin,  from   which   emerge    little   naked    figures  ;   in    front   extends   a 

pond   with   ducks   and    storks   (Fig.    136).       The   niche   on   the  right  contains 

battles  between  Christians  and  Arabs,  with  ladies  looking  on  from  battlements, 

besides  hunting  scenes,  a  battle  between  a  knight  and  a  wild  man  of  the  woods 

who  clutches    a    girl    by    the   arm,    and    a   charming    pair    at    the    chess   table 

with  a  rose  bush  growing  beside.       These  paintings  are  executed  on  a  number 

of  hides   sewn   together  and   covered  with  a  plaster  preparation  ;   the  ground  is 

gilt,  with   raised  ornaments  in  low  relief,  the  outlines  brown,  the   colours  vivid, 

with  scanty  shading.      The  number  of  tints  is  small,  and  the  same  combinations 

for  the  darker  tones  recur  over  and  over  again.      One  of  the  Arabs   in  the  first 

picture  even  has  a  green  beard.      Just   as  the  subjects  in  this  case  remind  us  of 

that  class  of  French  or  German  miniatures  or  wall-paintings,  of  which  the  mate- 


MEDIEVAL  PAINTING— FINAL  PERIOD. 


495 


rials  are  drawn  from  the  poems  of  chivalry,  so  the  forms  in  their  pliant  grace 
and  elegance  of  drawing  vary  but  little  from  the  ordinary  style  of  the  West, 
about  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century.  To  this  time,  in  fact,  the  pictures 
in  question  must,  according  to  the  costumes  represented,  belong,  as  it  is  also 
the  time  when  the  Alhambra  was  renewed  under  Yussuf  I.  (a.d.  i  348).  If,  next, 
it  were  possible  on  the  strength  of  the  figures  to  assume  that  we  had  here 
before  us  the  work  of  Christian,  say  of  French,  artists  in  the  service  of  the 
]\Iahommedan  princes,  our  assumption  would  be  disproved  by  another  feature 
which  is  characteristic  of  these  pictures.  That  is,  the  surprising  feeling  which 
they  show  for  the  poetry  of  nature,  the  loving  realisation  of  their  decail,  and 
their    keen    and    diligent   adhesion   to    the   particular   facts,   in    the   representa- 


Fig.  136. 


tion  of  the  leverets  and  other  little  animals  on  the  ground,  the  birds  on  the 
boughs,  the  dates,  cypresses,  and  the  rest.  All  these  are  treated  in  a  quite- 
exceptional  manner,  even  though  their  treatment  does  not  in  every  par- 
ticular   rise    above    the    conventional,    and    though    the    perspective     is    vcr}- 

imperfect. 

But  that  these  paintings  of  the  Alhambra  do  not  stand  alone  in  the  art  of 
Islam  we  may  learn  by  comparing  with  them  manuscripts  of  Arab,  Turkish, 
and  Persian  origin.  Among  Continental  libraries,  the  Royal  Library  at  Vienna 
is  especially  rich  in  monuments  of  this  kind  from  the  fourteenth  ccntur)-  down. 
The  Arabic  manuscripts  of  the  Makamcn  of  Hairiri,  dated  the  2  2tl  of  Radschelc 
734 — that  is  March  29  A.D.  1334 — suggests  an  acquaintance  with  miniatures  of 
late  Byzantine  work.  At  the  beginning  we  find  the  poet  himself  solemnly  en- 
thir)ncd,  with   two  winged    figures   hokling   a   blue    ribbon    over    his    head,  and 


496  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

beneath  his  feet  seven  figures,  of  whom  some  play  on  musical  instruments,  some 
juggle,  and  others  carry  cups.  The  picture  is  painted  in  gouache  within  a 
tasteful  arabesque  border.  Then  follow  sixty-nine  vignettes  to  the  several 
Makamen.  The  proportions  are  short,  the  heads  large  and  coarse,  irregular  in 
the  oval,  with  slits  for  eyes,  shapeless  noses,  and  mouths  often  ridiculously 
small.  The  outlines  are  red  in  the  flesh  parts,  the  draperies  quite  devoid  of 
style,  the  tissues  adorned  with  rich  patterns,  the  colouring  sumptuous  but  heavy, 
with  an  entire  absence  of  shading  and  modelling.  On  a  higher  level  stand  a 
number  of  Persian  manuscripts  of  the  sixteenth  and  subsequent  centuries,  in 
which  there  appear  a  better  observation  of  nature,  with  a  nearer  approach  to 
the  character  of  Western  art,  and  a  general  feeling  akin  to  that  which  we 
have  perceived  in  the  pictures  of  the  Alhambra.  Hunting  and  battle,  scenes 
of  conviviality  and  love  are  represented,  with  some  of  the  attractions  of 
romance,  in  combinations  of  slender  figures  and  dainty  motives.  The  horsey 
are  drawn  with  peculiar  precision  and  skill,  and  in  spite  of  the  want  of  per- 
spective the  scenery  is  always  delicately  and  agreeably  worked  out. 

In  this  place  we  should  also  have  to  deal  with  the  painting  of  the  races  of 
Eastern  Asia,  of  the.  Chinese  and  Japanese,  if  it  were  not  our  intention  to 
refrain  from  including  them  in  the  scope  of  our  history. 


APPENDIX. 


I,  [The  main  political  conditions  which  accompany  the  opening,  about  A. D.  1250,  of  this  third  or 
Gothic  period  of  mediceval  painting,  are — i,  The  downfall  of  the  German  Imperial  power ;  2,  The  consolida- 
tion and  growing  strength  of  the  French  kingdom  ;  3,  The  emancipation  and  growing  commercial  and 
industrial  importance  of  the  Italian  cities.  In  art,  the  Gothic  or  Pointed  style  of  architectural  construction 
and  ornament,  systematically  developed  in  France  soon  after  the  first  application  at  S.  Denis  (a.  D.  1 144), 
has,  before  the  close  of  the  preceding  period,  spread  to  Germany,  Great  Britain,  Spain,  and  lastly  in  a 
modified  shape,  to  Italy  (church  of  S.  Francis  at  Assisi,  A.u.  1228-52).  liut  the  principles  of  this  style 
have  not  at  first  told  upon  painting,  and  it  is  only  when  they  begin  decisively  to  do  so  that  a  Gothic  age 
for  that  art  begins.  The  close  of  this  Gothic  period  is  marked  by  no  special  conjuncture  in  the  political 
affairs  of  Europe,  but  only  by  a  change  of  tendency,  which  comes  over  the  craftsmen  of  Northern  and 
Southern  Europe  simultaneously  about  A.d.  1400.  Painting  is  about  that  date  again  transformed  by  a 
spirit  of  increased  freedom,  as  well  as  increased  exactness,  in  the  interpretation  of  nature  ;  coupled,  in 
Flanders,  witli  the  discovery  of  oil  as  a  vehicle  for  colours,  and  in  Italy,  with  an  awakening  enthusiasm 
for  the  monuments  of  antiquity, — an  enthusiasm  destined  in  that  country  quickly  to  bring  into  disfavour, 
after  an  ascendency  of  little  over  a  hundred  and  fifty  years,  the  Gothic  principles  of  ornamentation  both  in 
architecture  and  the  other  arts.] 

2.  See  the  Book  of  tiie  Painters'  Guild  of  Prague,  edited  by  Pangerl,  M.,  in  the  Vienna  Qucllcu- 
sc/ii'ifUn,  vol.  xiii.  p.   13. 

3.  Durandus,  7\(U.  divin.  offic,  lib.  i.  cap.  3  ;  quoted  by  Didron,  Ann.  archi'ol.,  ii.  ji.  24. 

4.  Album  de  Villard  de  Iloiineconrt,  edited  by  Lassus  and  Darcel,  Paris,  1 858. 

5.  [The  hero  of  Wolfram  von  Eschenbach's  epic  of  Willehalm  or  Wilhelm  von  Oransv,  is  the  historic 
personage,  William,  Count  of  Orange  in  Provence,  known  as  William  I.ong-nose,  whose  career  and  exploits 
had  been  idealised  in  popular  lay  and  legend  in  the  same  spirit  as  those  of  Charles  or  Roland.]  Among 
the  MS.  directions  to  the  illuminator,  written  in  Latin,  and  still  legible  on  the  margin  of  the  Vienna  cojiy  of 
the  poem,  are  the  following  : — Hie  ponas  aliquot  monachos  cum  abbate  (fol.  238).  Hie  ponas  regein  Tcr- 
ramer  regio  in  apparatu  in  medio  capitalis  (fol.  238).  Hie  ponas  solum  eapitale  et  inpingas  quid  placet  (fol. 
223). 

6.  Paris,  Bibl.  de  T Arsenal,  Theol.  Lat.  165  B  (reproductions  in  Lacroix  and  Serrc,  Le  moyen  ilge  et 
la  renaissance) ;  Venice,  Bibl.  Marc.,  ce.  i.  cod.  Ixxvii.  ;  Paris,  Bibl.  Nat.,  Lat.  238. 

7.  Paris,  Bibl.  Nat.,  Lat.  10525  ;  reproductions  in  Labarte,  PL  92,  and  Humphreys,  PI.  10. 

8.  Rome,  Bibl.  Vat.  3839  ;  see  Seroiix  d'Agincourt,  PI.  70. 

9.  Berlin,  Print-room,  MSS.,  38.  See  Sotzmann,  I,.,  in  Quarterly  Journal  of  the  .Maimer  Vereiu  fiir 
Literatur  u.  Ktcnsl,  1832,  PI.  2. 

10.  Vienna,  Hoflnbl.,  2554,  and  another  example  more  fully  illustrated,  with  superscriptions  in  Latin, 
1 1  79.  Compare  Paris,  Bibl.  Nat.,  Frant,-.  167,  9561  ;  t<>  be  mcnlioiicd  later.  On  tiie  choice  and  typical 
signification  of  the  subjects  in  these  books,  consult  Hcider,  ().,  in  Jalnbiiclur  der  k.  k.  Centrattomtnission, 
vol.  v.  p.  33. 

11.  Paris,  Bibl.  Nat.^  ^^rany.  2090-2092. 

12.  The  relation  between  the  popular  tales  of  the  Middle  Age  and  the  comicalities  of  the  M.S. 
borders  had  already  been  noticed  by  Lidand  {.Sc/irijten,  vol.  iii.  p.  223  sqq.)  :  compare  Grimm,  Kinder- 
und  Hatismdrchen,  vol.  iii.  pp.  239-242. 

3  ^ 


498  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

13.  llanka,  the  "discoverer"  of  the  Konighihof  MS.,  has  inserted  Slav  names  of  a  pretended  scribe 
and  illuminator,  and  claimed  a  Bohemian  origin  for  the  work.  See  Woltmann  m.  Repertorium  fiir  Kiiitst- 
wissenscha/t,  1877,  p.  I.  The  Stuttgart  Bible  (Bibl.  fol.  3  a-c)  is  shown  by  two  Latin  notes  written  at 
the  beginning  and  end  to  liave  belonged  to  a  convent  of  the  Celestine  order  at  Mons. 

14.  As  other  important  worlds  of  this  period  we  may  mention  the  manuscript  of  the  Pandects  in  the 
Lil)rary  at  Metz,  written  for  Renault  de  Bar,  bishop  of  that  place  (see  Hefner-AIteneck,  Trachten  des 
Christl.  Mittelalters,  i.  PL  77) ;  his  Pontifical  in  the  same  place  (No.  43)  ;  and  further,  a  somewhat  later 
Pontifical  with  the  arms  of  Hugues  de  Bar,  bishop  of  Verdun  (a.d.  i  352-1 361),  and  also  of  his  grandmother- 
Jeanne  de  Cocy,  recurring  frequently  in  the  initials.  (Prague,  Libr.  of  Prince  Lobkowitz,  225.)  The  book 
contains  also  thirty-nine  representations  of  church  ceremonies,  many  beautiful  initial  letters  with  figure 
subjects,  and  delightful  droleries, 

15.  Paris,  Bibl.  iVat.,  Frany.  20125  (date  about  A.D.  1300)  ;  Y>om.wQ%chmgQn,  Fiirslenberg'sche  Bibl., 
168  (see  Hefner,  op.  cit.,  PI.  28,  31);  Brussels,  Bibl.  de  Bourgogne,  11040,  10747;  Vienna,  Hofbibl. 
2583,  2563  (specimens  from  the  former  in  Dibdin,  A  Bibliographical  Tour,  vol.  iii.  p.  479. 

16.  See  Shaw,  Art  of  Illuminating,  p.  18  sqq.,  for  specimens  of  the  Tenison  Psalter  in  the  Brit. 
Mus.,  executed  about  1284. 

17.  Oxford,  Bodl.,  Douce,  366  ;  London,  Brit.  Mus.,  Arundel  83,  MSS.  Regia  2,  B.  vii. ;  for  repro- 
duction from  the  last,  see  Palasog.  Soc,  PI.  9^  sq. 

iS.    See  Hefner-AIteneck,  op.  cit.,  vol.  i.  PI.  41. 

19.  Munich,  Carmina  Benedictoburana,  cod.  c.  pict.  73  (see  Publ.  of  the  Literar.  Vereins,  Stuttgart,  vol. 
xvi.);  cod.  Germ.  19,  Cimel.  28  ;  cod.  Germ.  51,  Cimel.  27  (see  Kugler,  A7.  Schriften,  vol.  i.  p.  88). 

20.  Stuttgart,  Kbnigl.  Piivatbibl.,  Poet.  Germ,  i  (see  Literar.  Verein,  vol.  v.,  with  plates) ;  Paris, 
Bibl.  iVat.,  Allemand  32  (see  Hagen,  F.  H.  v.  d..  Atlas  zu  den  Minnesitigern,  Berlin,  1856). 

21.  Cassel,  MSS.  poet,  et  rom.  fol.  i  (specimen  in  Kugler,  Kl.  Schriften,  vol.  i.  p.  53). 

22.  Published  with  repi-oductions  by  Heider  and  Camesina,  Vienna,  1863. 

23.  Published  with  reproductions  by  Wocel ;  Wellislaw's  Bilderbibel,  Prague,  1871. 

24.  Prague,  Universitatsbibl.  xiv.  A  17.  See  Wocel  in  Mittheilungen  der  k.  k.  Centralcommission, 
i860,  p.  75  (with  plates). 

25.  For  literary  testimonies  concerning  these  libraries  consult  Wattenbach,  Schriftwesen,  p.  $02;  and 
Laborde,  Comte  L.  de,  Les  Dues  de  Bourgogne,  etc.,  vol.  ii. 

26.  Compare  in  the  same  sense  Waagen,  ICunst7verke  u.  KYinstler  in  Paris,  p.  326,  and  Schnaase, 
Gesch.  d.  bild.  Kihiste,  vol.  vi.  p.  517. 

27.  Paris,  Bibl.  Nat.,  Franf.  30;  Hague,  Mus.  Westreeneti  (see  Waagen  in  Dadsches  Kumtblatt, 
1852,  p.  238);  Paris,  Bibl.  Nat.,  Fran9.  167  (specimens  in  Louandre). 

28.  Hague,  Mus.  Westreenen  (see  Montfaucon,  Mon.  de  la  vwnarchie  franfaise,  vol.  iii.  PI.  2)  ; 
Paris,  /ubl.  de  F Arsenal,   T.  L.  No.  4  (see  Louandre),  Bibl.  Nat.,  Fran9.  437. 

29.  Hague,  Mus.  Westreenen.  Among  slighter  and  less  artistic  works  done  for  the  same  king, 
Charles  V.,  are  a  Valerius  Maximus  in  French,  the  Livres  de propriete  des  choses  of  Jehan  Corbichon,  the 
latter  with  the  date  1372,  and  each  containing  a  dedication  picture  (Paris,  Bibl.  Nat.,  Franf.  290, 
22534).  There  is  another  pleasant  dedicatory  picture  in  an  epistle  addressed  to  Richard  H.  of  England 
between  A.D.  1370  and  1380  by  a  Coelestine  monk  of  Paris,  with  the  object  of  arranging  a  peace  between 
that  sovereign  and  Charles  V.      London,  Brit.  Mus.  20  B,  vi. 

30.  Brussels,  Bibl.  de  Bouigogne,  10392  ;  London,  Brit.  Mus.,  Harleian,  2897  (see  Shaw,  op.  cit., 
p.  24). 

31.  Paris,  Bibl.  A'at.,  Fran9.  2810  (see  Humphreys,  PI.  xv.) 

32.  London,  Brit.  Mus.,  Harleian,  4831. 

33.  Paris,  Bibl.  Nat.,  Fran9.  13091  ;  known  as  Les  petite s  heures  de  Jean  de  Ba-ri.  The  date  of  the 
original  catalogue  referred  to  in  the  text  is  between  A.U.  1401  and  1403.  Compare  woodcut  in  Lacroix, 
Les  arts  au  may  en  age,  etc..  Fig.  330. 

34.  Paris,  Bibl.  iVnt.,  Lat.  919.  See  reproductions  in  Silvestre,  Paleogr.  univ.  iii.;  and  consult 
Waagen,  Ktinstlcr  u.  Kunstwerke,  in  Paris,  p.  339;  also  Laborde,  Les  Dues  de  Boiugogne,  vol.  ii.  p.  I, 


APPENDIX.  499 

note  to  p.  121,  where  the  entry  concerning  this  Book  of  Hours  from  the  inventor)'  of  property  left  by  the 
Duke  is  quoted  thus  :  item  mics  tres  belles  heures  tres  rkheinent  eiiliimiiiees  el  hystoriees  de  la  main  yaqucmart 
de  Odin  et par  les  quarrefors  des  feuillez  en  pluseurs  lieux  faictes  des  armes  et  devises  de  MS.,  etc. 

35.  Paris,  Bibl.  A'at.,  Lat.  18014,  10483,   10484. 

36.  Paris,  Bilil.  Maz.,  753.  A  similar  book  at  Oxford,  completed,  according  to  the  inscription,  a. D. 
1407,  belongs  also  to  the  finest  of  this  class  (Bodl.  Libr.,  Douce  144),  as  does  a  nearly  allied  Prayer-book 
which  Waagen  saw  in  the  possession  of  the  Count  de  Saint  Mauris,  and  later  of  Count  Bastard  in  Paris. 

37.  See  Waagen,  Treasures  of  Art  in  England,  vol.  iv.  (Suppl.)  p.  248. 

38.  Rome,  Vat.,  Ottobon.,  1262  ;   London,  Brit.  A/iis.,  Harleian,  4431. 

39.  Unsatisfactory  lithographic  reproductions  published  by  Duncker  and  Humblot,  Berlin,  1830 ; 
Schnaase,  Gesch.  d.  bild.  Kiinste,  vol.  i.  p.   540,  disputes  the  reading  of  the  name. 

40.  London,  Brit.  Mus.,  Harleian,  7026;  see  Humphreys,  PI.  14. 

41.  Other  excellent  works  of  the  same  school  are  the  following: — the  Orationale  of  Arnestus  in  the 
same  museum,  which  has  figure  compositions  in  the  initial  letters,  among  which  the  kneeling  bishop  already 
shows  an  individuality  of  character  ;  the  thorn-leaf  pattern  strongly  predominates  in  the  borders  ;  the 
Pontificate  oi  the  fourth  Bishop  of  Leitomischl,  Albert  von  Sternberg,  executed  A.n.  1376  by  the  writer 
Hodico  (this  is  in  the  Library  of  the  Prremonstratensian  monastery  at  Sliahow,  Prague)  ;  the  Missal  of 
Ozko  von  Wlaschim,  Archbishop  of  Prague,  A.D.  1 364- 1 380,  in  the  Metropolitan  Library  of  that  place  ; 
the  Christian  school-book  by  Thomas  von  Stitny,  in  the  Bohemian  tongue,  now  in  the  University  Library 
at  Prague;  the  small  vignettes  in  this  work  are  less  finished  in  execution,  but  full  of  sjiirit,  and  skilfid  in 
their  motives.  The  scene  in  which  a  young  girl  in  foshionable  attire  listens  to  the  advances  of  the  seducer, 
while  the  devil  imparts  evil  counsel  to  her  through  the  bellows,  is  extremely  life-like,  and  the  latter  end 
of  a  sinner  whom  Death  slays  upon  his  bed  is  very  powerful.  A  Gospel-book  in  Vienna,  illuminated, 
according  to  its  inscription,  by  Johann  von  Troppau,  Canon  of  Briinn,  and  completed  A.D.  1368,  is  particu- 
larly beautiful  in  the  ornaments  of  the  borders,  and  corresponds  altogether  to  the  Prague  examples. 

42.  Vienna,  Ilofbibl.,  TheoL,  1182;  Jus  civile,  338;  No.  2759;  Ambrascr  Samml.,  No.  75. 

43.  Vienna,  Ilofbibl.,  No.   1S44. 

44.  Vienna,  Ilofbibl.,  No.  2765;  see  Birk,  E.,  \y\  Bcrichte  des  JVieiter  Alterthumsfreundes,  1855. 

45.  Stuttgart,  Oeff.  Bibl.,  Bibl.  fol.  5. 

46.  Consult  the  splendid  uncompleted  work  of  Lassus  and  Duval,  Monographic  de  la  Cathcdrale  de 
Chartres  (coloured  plates) ;  and  for  almost  all  examples  of  French  painted  glass,  the  work  of  Lasteyrie 
above  quoted. 

47.  For  the  glass  of  Bourges  Cathedral,  with  examples  from  other  places  introduced  for  comparison, 
see  Arthur  Martin,  and  Cahier,  Ch.,  Monograpliie  de  la  Cathedrale  de  Bourges,  I'-'-'-  partie,  vitraux 
dn  \i"He  siecle,  Paris,  1841-1844.  For  those  of  Le  Mans,  Plucher,  E.,  Vitratix  peints  de  la  Cat/it'drale 
du  Mans,  Paris,  1865.  For  some  examples  of  legendary  subjects  in  painted  glass,  Cahier,  jYoiireaiix 
melanges,  etc.,  Paris,  1875,  art.  Decorations  d'^glises. 

48.  Of  the  sixty-one  original  subjects,  only  forty  are  preserved  ;  and  these  have  been  filled  with  many 
fragments,  which,  though  ancient,  do  not  belong  to  them.      See  Rahn,  Sc/nvcis,  p.  566  (with  plates). 

49.  For  the  window  at  Marburg,  see  Moller,  G.,  Denkmdler  der  dcutschen  Baiikinul,  ii.  I'l.  16.  l-'or 
that  at  Alpinsbach,  Stillfried,  R.,  Alterthiimer  nnd  KunstdenkmaU  des  crlauchtcn  Hauses  Ilolunzollern, 
Berlin,  1859- 1867.  For  that  at  Wimpfen,  MUller,  F.  H.,  Bcitrdge  zur  teutschen  Kiinst-iind  Gcschichts- 
kunde,  PI.  18.  For  Niederhasslach,  Straub,  Analyse  des  vitraux  dc  Vancicnne  t'^lise  colU'giale  de  Ilaslach 
et  de  Vancienne  abboye  de  Walbourg,  Caen,  i860.  For  Klostermenburg,  Camesina,  in  Jahrbuch  der  k.  k. 
Centralcomniission,  ii. 

50.  See  Gailhabaud,  i: architecture  et  les  arts  qui  en  dipeudent,  \\.,  and  Schmitz,  F.,  Der  Dom  zu 
Kbln. 

5 1 .  I'or  the  windows  at  Seligenthal,  see  Alterthums-uiul  k'unstdenkiualedes  hayerischeu  Herrscherhauses, 
Munich,  1853.  For  those  at  Konigsfelden,  Liebenau,  Th.  v.,  and  Liibke,  W.,  Denkmiiler  des  Ilausii 
Ilabsburg  in  der  .Schtveiz  ;  Das  Kloster  Konigsfelden,  Zurich,  1867. 

52.  For  documentary  proofs,  see  Laborde,  I.cs  Dues  de  Bourgogne. 

53.  See  the  work  of  Lasteyrie,  and  also  Labarte,  PI.  96. 


500 


HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 


54.  For  the  example  of  S.  Pierre-sur-Dive,  see  woodcut  in  De  Caumont,  Alwcdaire,  Arch,  religieuse, 
5th  ed.,  p.  504.      For  that  at  S.  Omer,  Gailhabaud,  vol.  ii.,  and  Didron,  Ann.  atrlieol.,  vol.  xii.  p.  137. 

55.  The  essential  information  concerning  the  mural  painting  of  tliis  age  in  England  is  contained  in 
Horace  Walpole,  Anecdotes  of  Painting  in  England  (founded  on  Vertue's  notes),  ed.  R.  N.  Wornum, 
London,  1849;  Eastlake,  Sir  Charles,  Materials  for  a  History  of  Oil  I'ainting,  vol.  i.  p.  552;  compare 
Schnaase,  Gcsch.  der  bild.  Kimste,  vol,  v.  p.  538,  and  vi.  p.  546. 

56.  See  Some  account  of  the  Collegian  Chapel  of  S,  Stephen,  Westminster,  published  by  the  Soc.  of 
Antiquaries,  2d  ed.    London,  181 1. 

57.  For  the  Westminster  portrait,  see  Scharf,  G.,  Observations  on  the  Westminster  A Mey  Portrait  oj 
King  Richard  II.,  in  Fine  Arts  Quarterly  Review,  1867,  with  illustrations  :  on  that  at  Wilton  (which  has 
been  engraved,  but  without  preserving  its  true  character,  by  Hollar),  Waagen,  Treasures  of  Art  in 
Englimd,  vol.  iii.  p.   150. 

58.  For  the  Brauvveiler  examples,  see  Weerth,  E.  aus'm,  Wandmalereien  des  Mittelalters  in  den 
Rheinlanden  ;  for  those  at  Rebdorf,  Sighart,  Gesch.  d.  bild,  Ki'tnste  itn  Konigreich  Bayern,  p.  340,  with 
illustrations. 

59.  See  Weerth,  E.  aus'm.,  op.  cit.     Tracings  are  preserved  in  the  Print-room  at  the  Berlin  Museum. 

60.  Figured  in  Forster,  Denkmale,  vol.  vii.;  Schnaase,  Gesch,  d.  bild.  K'lUiste^  vol.  vi.  p.  386;  and  in 
colours  Schmitz,  Der  Dom  zu  Kbbi,      Copies  and  tracings  are  in  the  Print-room  at  Berlin. 

61.  For  the  Basel  paintings,  see  Bernouilli,  A.,  \n  Mittheihmgen  der  Hist.  11.  Antiq.  Gesellschaft  zu 
Basel,  New  Series,  i,  with  seven  coloured  plates.  For  those  at  Oberwinterthur,  Rahn,  R.,  in  Anzeiger 
fur  schweizerische  Altcrthumskunde. 

62.  In  Swabia  the  Chapel  at  Kentheim,  and  the  Veitscapelle  at  Miihlhausen  on  the  Neckar,  founded 
A.D.  1380,  may  be  particularly  mentioned  (see  Griineisen  in  the  Kunstblatt,  1840,  No.  96  sqq.)  and  in 
Bavaria  some  remains  in  the  Cathedral  at  Freising.  Of  a  corresponding  character  are  the  wall-paintings 
with  the  legend  of  S.  George  in  a  chamber  of  the  castle  of  Neuhaus  in  Bohemia,  dated  a. d.  1338,  and 
High  German  both  in  style  and  in  the  language  of  their  inscriptions.  (Published  by  Worel  in  the  ^'ienna 
Denkschriften  der  kais.  Akad.  der  Wissenschaften,  1859.)  The  tenor  of  the  legend  gave  scope  to  the  artist 
for  naif  representations  of  chivalrous  life.  Of  other  Bohemian  wall-paintings  we  shall  speak  later  in  con- 
nection with  the  school  of  Prague.  In  the  north-east  of  Germany,  the  only  examples  are  the  pictures  in 
the  vaultings  of  S.  Maiy's  Church  at  Kolberg. 

63.  On  representations  of  Death  in  the  painting  of  this  period,  consult  Wackernagel,  W.,  Ter  Tod- 
tentafiz,  in  A7.  Schriftcn,  vol.  i.  p.  302;  Douce,  Fr.,  The  Dance  of  Death,  London,  1833;  Langlois,  E.  H., 
Essai  historique,  philosophique  et pittoresque  sur  les  danses  des  7norts,  Rouen,  1 852. 

64.  On  the  English  examples,  see  ArchcBol.  Journal,  1848,  p.  6g  sqq,  (plates)  :  on  that  at  Badenweiler 
(badly  preserved),  the  essay  of  its  discoverer,  Dr.  Liibke,  in  the  Supplement  to  the  Allgemeiue  Zeitiing,  Sept. 
23  and  24,  1866.  Instances  both  of  Death  riding  an  ox,  and  of  scenes  from  the  tale  of  the  Three  Living 
and  Three  Dead,  have  already  come  before  us  in  fourteenth  century  MSS. 

65.  See  Zingerle  and  Seeloz,  J.,  Freskencycliis  des  Schlosses  Runkelstein  bei  Bozen,  Innsbruck,  1859. 
New  drawings  have  been  made  by  authority  of  the  k.  k.  Centralcommission. 

66.  For  the  Erfurt  tapestries  see  Eye,  A.  von,  Anzeiger  fi'ir  Kiinde  der  Vorzeit,  1866;  and  compare 
Lambel,  H.,  in  Gerviania,  vol.  xi.  p.  493  :  for  those  at  Wienhausen,  Mithof,  Archiv  fi'ir  Niedersachsens 
Kunstgeschichte,  ii.  6  :  and  for  those  in  the  town-hall  at  Regensburg,  Sighart,  Gesch.  d.  bild.  Ki'mste  im 
Konigr.  Bayern,  p.  414  :  Hefner- Alteneck,  Trachten,  PI.  100  ;  compare  Germania,  1878,  p.  276. 

67.  The  Sa.\zhuTg  A ntependium  is  published  by  Heider,  G.,  in  Mittheilungen  der  k.  k,  Centralcommis- 
sion, 1862,  p.  29  ;  that  from  Pima  in  Schulz  and  Klemm's  Guide  to  the  Museum  of  National  Antiquities 
in  Dresden,  and  again  in  Zeitschrift  f'l'tr  bildende  Kunst,  vol.  iv.  p.  280. 

68.  See  VioUet-le-Duc,  Diet,  du  tnobilier franfais,  vol.  i.  p.  234. 

69.  Ibid.  J  vol.  i.  p.  9. 

70.  On  the  technical  methods  of  painting  in  use  in  the  Middle  Age  consult  Eastlake,  Sir  Charles, 
Materials  for  a  History  of  Oil  Painting,  'London,  1847,   1869. 

71.  The  text  of  these  statutes  has  been  published  by  Pangerl,  M.,  with  supplements  by  Woltmann,  A. 
in  the  series  of  Quellenschriften,  vol.  xiii..  Das  Buch  der  Malerzeche  in  Prag,  Vienna,  1878. 


APPENDIX.  501 

72.  An  inscription  of  the  time  of  the  last  restoration  gives  the  date  of  the  completion  of  the  building 
as  A.D.  1343,  and  of  the  different  renewals  as  a.d.  1412,  1588,  1594,  and  1654.  Hut  the  first  date  can 
scarcely  be  trusted,  as  the  consecration  of  the  monastery  only  took  place,  as  stated  in  the  text,  a.d.  1372. 

73.  Ut  ipse  diligenciori  studio  pingat  loca  et  castra  ad  quas  deputatiis  ftierit. 

74.  For  example,  a  half-length  of  the  Virgin  with  the  Child,  undraped,  reaching  up  caressingly  to  her 
face,  is  in  S.  Stephen's  at  Prague  ;  also  two  pictures  with  similar  motives,  not  differing  one  from  the 
other,  in  the  church  of  the  Minorites  at  Knimau,  and  in  the  monastery  church  at  Hohenfurt.  The  face  of 
the  Virgin  is  a  delicate  oval  shape,  with  high  forehead  and  scarcely  any  eyebrows.  The  high  lights  in  the 
flesh  are  white,  and  the  hair  is  painted  with  hatchings.  In  both  cases  figures  of  saints  are  let  into  the 
frames  ;  in  Krumau,  chiefly  saints  of  the  mendicant  orders  ;  and  in  Hohenfurt,  female  saints  and  S. 
\\enzel,  besides  the  donor,  a  monk  of  the  Cistercian  order.  The  frame  of  the  Vera  Icon  in  the  Cathedral 
at  Prague  is  of  the  same  kind,  and  adorned  with  figures  of  tire  patron  saints  of  Bohemia  ;  and  the  picture 
itself  probably  belongs  to  tlie  same  group,  although  its  characteristics  are  not  so  easy  to  recognise  in  the 
principal  subject — a  typical  full  face  of  Christ. 

75.  Attributed  without  foundation  to  Nicolaus  Wurmser. 

76.  Advertentes  artiJiciosai7i  pictnrmit  et  solemnem  regalis  nostrae  cappellae  in  K. 

77.  On  the  position  of  apprentices  see  Das  Buck  der  Malerzeche,  note  371. 

78.  This  entry  was  discovered  by  Ennen,  Keeper  of  the  archives  ;  see  Koln.  Zeitung,  August  9,  1859. 
For  the  records  concerning  Wilhelm  of  Herle  see  Merlo,  Nachrichten  von  Kdlncr  Ktinstlern,  Cologne, 
1850,  p.  509,  and  Supplement  to  same,  1851,  p.  31. 

79.  Figured  in  Forster,  Denkmale,  v. 

80.  Concerning  examples  of  this  period  in  Salzburg  see  Sighart  in  Mitthciluugcn  der  k.  k.  Central- 
commission,  1866,  p.  65;  in  Nuremberg,  Rettberg,  R.  von,  N'iirnberg s  Kttnstlehen  in  seinen  Denkmaleii 
dargestellt,  Stuttgart,   1854. 

81.  This  altar-piece  was  dedicated  by  Kunz  Imhof  between  a.d.  1418  and  1422,  as  we  can  tell  from 
its  containing  the  arms  of  his  three  first  wives,  but  not  of  the  fourth,  who  was  a  Wolkramer,  and  whom  he 
married  a.d.  1422. 

82.  In  the  possession  of  Fraulein  Gabriele  Prizibraum  at  \'ienna. 

83.  Figured  in  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle,  Hist,  of  Early  Flemish  Painters,  English  ed.;  see  Laborde, 
Comte  L.  de,  Les  Dues  de  Boiirgogne,  vol.  i.  ;  and  Catalogue  hist,  et  descr.  du  Museedl  Dijon,  1869. 

84.  The  essential  literary  sources  for  the  history  of  Italian  painting  in  this  period  are  the  following  : — 
Vasari,  Giorgio,  Le  vite  de'  piu  eceellenti  pittori,  scultori  ed  architetti.,  original  eds.,  1550  and  1568  ;  later 
ed.,  with  supplementary  matter,  Bottari,  G.,  Rom,  1759;  Valle,  Guglielmo  della,  Siena,  1791-1794; 
Montani,  Giuseppe,  and  Maselli,  Giovanni,  Florence,  1832-1838;  recent  critical  ed.  in  14  small  vols., 
Florence,  Le  Mcmnier,  1846- 1 870  ;  prefaced  to  vol.  i.  are  the  Commentaries  o(  'Lorenzo  Ghiberti.  Two  vols, 
have  appeared  of  an  iniporiant  new  issue  of  this  edition,  with  additional  matter,  viz.  Le  opere  di  Giorgio 
Vasari,  con  nnove  aniiolazioni  e  commenti  di  Gaetano  Milanesi,  Florence,  1878.  Uncritical  Italian  litera- 
ture of  later  times  ;  Baldinucci,  FiL,  N'otizie  de"  Professori  del  disegno  da  Cimabiie  in  qua,  Florence,  1681- 
1728;  Lanzi,  L.,  Storia  pittorica  deW  Italia,  Bassano,  1789;  Rosini,  Ciiov.,  Storia  della  pittura  italiana 
esposta  coi  mo7tumenti,  7  vols.,  Pisa,  1839-1854.  Modern  critical  writings  anil  researches,  beginning  with 
Rumohr,  C.  F.  von,  /tal.  Forschungen,  3  vols.,  Berlin,  1827- 183 1  ;  I'orsler,  E.,  Beitrixge  zur  ueueren 
Kunstgeschich/e,  Leipzig,  1835;  Geschichte  der  ilalienischen  Kiinst,  Leipzig,  1870;  Denkmale  der  ital. 
Malerei,  Leipzig,  vols,  i.-iii ;  Schnaase,  vii. ;  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle,  i.  and  ii. ;  lUirckhanli,  J.,  Der 
Cicerone,  iii. ;  Lubke,  W.,  Geschichte  der  ital.  Malerei  vom  4  bis  zum  16  Jahrhundert,  Stullgait,  1S7S  ; 
publications  of  documents  and  letters,  Valle,  G.  della,  Lettere  Sanesi,  Venice,  1 782- 1 786  ;  Gaye,  Giovanni, 
Carteggio  inedito  d'artisti  del  .Secoli  xiv.  xv.  xid.,  3  vols.,  Florence,   1839  S(j. 

85.  On  this  point  the  author  agrees  with  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle,  ///.>/.  0/  Painting  in  Italy;  but 
in  the  following  paragraph  he  dissents  from  the  conclusions  of  those  writers,  and  agrees  with  Vasari  in 
assigning  exclusively  to  Cimabue  and  his  jiupils  the  series  of  works  in  which  they  w..ul<l  discover  the  works 
of  various  hands.  The  description  of  Messrs.  C.  and  C.  needs  correctioti  in  the  f..llnwing  particulars: 
v.,  the  angel  is  not  thrusting  Adam  with  his  foot;  both  are  merely  walking  rapidly:  XII.  i.-prcsenis 
Abraham  :uid  the  angels;  XIII.,  Jacob  gaining  his  f\ithcr's  blessing  by  gull.- ;  XIV.,  Ksau  coming  too 
late  to  ask  his  lilessing. 


502  .  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

86.  See  Ciampi,  Notizie  inedite,  etc.,  p.  no,  Florence,  iSio;  comp.  Vasari,  ed.  Milanesi,  vol.  i.  p. 
319,  note. 

87.  See  Milanesi,  Gaet.,  Sulla  storia  deW  arte  Toscana,  Siena,  1873;  della  vera  eta  di  Guido  pittore 
senese.  This  Guido  is  probably  identical  with  a  Guido  Graziani  who  appears  in  documents  after  A.D. 
1278.  A  false  date,  122 1,  appears  in  the  picture  as  at  present  restored,  before  the  verses.  Me  Guido  de 
Senis  diebus  depinxit  amenis,  Quern  Cliristus  le>iis  nuUis  velit  agere penis. 

Z%.  See  Milanesi,  Gaet.,  Docmnevti  per  la  storia  dell'  arte  senese,  Siena,  1854,  vol.  i.  pp.  158,  168, 
166.  The  picture  is  inscribed,  Mater  sancta  Dei  sis  causa  Senis  requiei,  sis  Dticio  vita,  te  (jiiia  depinxit  ita. 
Published  by  Emil  Braun  from  drawings  by  Rhodens  and  Bartoccini,  Leipzig,  1848;  Forster,  Denkinale, 
i.,  plates  17-20. 

89.  For  the  general  position  of  Pietro  Cavallini  see  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle  (following  Della  Yalle), 
vol.  i.  ;  for  his  mosaics  of  Santa  Afaria  in  Trastevere  see  Rossi,  Musaici  Cristiani  (the  inscription.  Hoc 
opus  fecit  Petrns,  was  legible  here  as  late  as  a.d.  1640);  for  his  employment  at  Naples,  Schulz,  op.  cit., 
vol.  iii.  p.  76,  and  vol.  iv.  p.   127. 

90.  For  the  mosaics  of  Torriti  at  the  Lateran  see  Gutensohn  and  Knapp,  PI.  46  ;  Valentini,  Ag.  and 
Gerardi,  F.,  La  patriarcale  basilica  Lateranettse,  Rome,  1833,  vol.  ii.  PI.  30;  for  those  at  Santa  Maria 
Maggiore,  Gutensohn  and  Knapp,  PI.  46,  and  Valentini,  Ag.,  La  pati'iarcale  basilica  Liberiana  (Rome, 
1839),  PL  55.  Those  at  the  Lateran  are  for  the  present  removed  for  purposes  of  restoration  ;  coloured 
cartoon  copies,  on  a  large  scale,  are  to  be  seen  in  the  Christian  Museum  of  the  Lateran. 

91.  Vasari,  who  knows  nothing  of  Rusuti,  ascribes  the  execution  of  the  lower  pictures  to  the  afore- 
mentioned Gaddo  Gaddi,  who,  according  to  this,  must  have  already  come  under  the  influence  of  his  con- 
temporary Giotto;  see  Milanesi,  ed.,  vol.  i,  p.  347. 

92.  Consult,  besides  the  general  literature  mentioned  in  note  84,  Schnaase  Gesch.  d.  bild.  Kunste, 
Dobbert,  E. ,  in  Dohme's  Kiinst  u  Kiinstler,  vol.  iii.  For  Giotto's  birthdate,  see  Pucci's  Ctntiloqiiio,\\\ 
Delizie  degli  Erndili  Toscani,  vol.  vi.  p.  1 19;  comp.  Vasari,  ed.,  Milanesi,  vol.  i.  p.  370,  note.  The 
name  of  Giotto's  father,  Bondone,  on  which  doubt  was  cast  by  Rumohr,  is  established  by  the  decree  of 
A.D.   1334,  mentioned  in  the  text  (published  by  Gaye,  Carteggio,  vol.   I.  p.  481). 

93.  See  Ricobaldi  Yerv^nexi^K  sive  al/erins  ano>iymi  sc7-iptoris  compilatio,  etc.,  in  Muratori,  SS.  remni 
Italicanim,  vol.  ix.  p.  255  : — Zotiis  pictor  exiiniiis  Florentiniis  agnoscititr ;  qualis  in  arte  fnerit  testantur 
opera  facta  per  eitm  in  Ecclesiis  Minoriini  Assisii,  Arimini,  Padnae  ac  per  ea  quae  pinxit  in  Palatio  Co  in  it  is 
Paduae  et  in  Ecclesia  Areriae  Paduae ;  comp.  Villani,  Cronica,  lib.  xi.  cap.   12. 

94.  In  holding  this  view,  the  author  dissents  from  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle,  and  agrees  with  Dobbert. 
The  words  of  Ghiberti  concerning  Giotto — Dipinse  nella  chiesa  d'  Assisi,  ttelP  ordine  de'  Frati  Minori, 
quasi  tutta  la  parte  di  sotto — refers  evidently  not  to  the  Lower  Church,  but  to  the  lowest  tier  of  frescoes, 
those  illustrating  the  life  of  the  saint  in  the  Upper  Church. 

95.  Text  in  Baldinucci,  Life  of  Giotto  ad.  inst. 

96.  See  Vasari,  ed.  Milanesi,  vol.  i.  p.  413. 

97.  See  excerpts  from  the  MS.  commentaiy  on  Dante  of  Benvenuto  da  Imola  in  Muratori,  Antiq. 
Ital.  nied.  aev.  (Milan,  1738),  vol.  i.  col.  1 185  sqq.  On  the  Arena  frescoes  in  general,  consult  Selvatico, 
P.  E.,  Sulla  cappellina  degli  Scrovegni  nelF  arena  di  Padoz'a  e  sjii  freschi  di  Giotto  in  essa  depinti,  Padua, 
1836;  Ruskin,  John,  Giotto  and  /lis  Works  in  Padua,  London,  1854,  Arundel  Society's  publications, 
comp.  Forster,  E.,  Denktnale,  i.  PI.  21-25. 

98.  Burckhardt.  99.   Schnaase,  Gesch.  a.  bild.  Kiinste. 

100.    See  Savonarola,  Michele,  De  laiidibus  iirb.  Patav.  in  Muratori,  SS.  rerum  Ital.  xxiv.,  1169  sq. 

loi.  Text  in  Rumohr,  Ital.  Forschungen,  vol.  ii.  p.  51,  and  Vasari,  ed.  Milanesi,  vol.  i.  p.  426 
[transl.  by  Rossetti,  D.  G.,  Specimens  of  t/it  Early  Italian  poets']. 

102.  Cennino  Cennini  da  Colle  di  Valdelsa,  //  libro  dell'  arte  o  t7-attato  della  pittura,  ed.  by  Milanesi, 
Carl.,  and  Gaet.,  Florence,  1859  ;  German  ed.  by  Ilg,  A.,  in  Quellenschriften  fiir  Kunstgeschichte,  Vienna, 
1871. 

103.  See  Eastlake,  Sir  Ch.,  on  the  connection  between  the-  early  History  of  Painting  and  that  of 
Medicine,  in  Materials  for  a  Histoy  of  Oil  Painting,  chap.   i. 


APPENDIX.  503 

104.  On  the  Confraternity  of  S.  Luke,  see  Vasari,  ed.  Milanesi,  vol.  i.  p.  673,  in  Life  of  Jacopo  ili 
Casentino.  Text  of  the  statutes  in  Gaye  ii.  32  (under  date,  wrongly  according  to  Milanesi,  A.  D.  r339). 
Comp.  statutes  of  Sienese  painters.  Ibid.  ii.  i. 

105.  See  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle,  vol.  i. 

106.  The  Maso  of  the  text  is  probably  identical  with  one  Maso  the  son  of  Banco,  admitted  to  the 
guild  of  Speziali  K.V).  1343,  and  to  the  confraternity  of  painters  A.D.  1350;  Giottino,  on  the  contraiy, 
was  called  Giotto  di  Maestro  Stefano,  and  appears  in  the  registers  of  painters  a.d.  1368.  See  Vasari,  ed. 
Milanesi,  vol.  i.  p.  622. 

107.  Vasari,  ed.  Milanesi,  vol.  i.  p.  459.  Pictures  bearing  the  signature  Bemardus,  had  hitherto 
teen  erroneously  ascribed  to  the  brother  of  Orcagna,  commonly  styled  Nardo — an  abbreviation,  however, 
which  has  been  proved  to  stand  in  this  case  not  for  Bernardo,  but  for  Lionardo. 

108.  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  572  note. 

109.  For  details  concerning  Traini,  consult  Bonaini,  Fr.,  Memorie  inedite  intortto  alia  vita,  etc.,  <//' 
Ft.   Traini,  Pisa,  1846. 

1 10.  Consult  Marchesi,  Padre  V.,  Memorie  dei  pittori,  scultori,  ed  architdii  Dominicani,  2d  ed.,  vol. 
i.  p.  124  ;  and  comp.  Schnaase,  vol.  vii.  p.  446.  The  authorship  of  the  various  frescoes  in  the  Spanish 
Chapel  has  been  much  debated,  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle,  holding  that  some  of  the  compositions  may  be  by 
Taddeo,  fail  to  see  his  hand  in  the  execution,  but  suggest  (without  sufficient  grounds)  the  names  of  Andrea 
di  Firenze  and  Antonio  Veneziano.  For  the  work  of  these  masters  in  the  Campo  Santo  at  Pisa,  see  pp. 
473  ^'11-)  Schnaase  assigns  to  some  follower  of  Giotto  the  works  given  by  Vasari  to  Taddeo  Gaddi,  and 
the  rest  to  a  Sienese  hand. 

111.  See  the  masterly  essay  of  Hettner,  H.,  Die  Dominikancr  in  dcr  KimstgeschichU  dcs  14  w.  15 
Jahrhunderts,  in  his  Italienische  SUtdien  (Brunswick,  1879),  p.  97. 

112.  See  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle,  vol.  i.,  for  an  account  of  the  remains  of  a  fresco  of  correspond- 
ing subject,  preserved  in  the  building  now  occupied  by  the  Accademia  Filarmonicu  ( Via  dd  diniivio). 

113.  Petr.  Epist.fam.,  lib.  v.  17;  Sonndti  $•],  58,  100. 

114.  Milanesi,  Gaet.  and  Carlo,  Documenti per  la  storia  deW  arte  sen ese,  vol.  i.  p.  216. 

115.  The  only  account  of  these  Avignon  frescoes  (which  the  author  has  not  yet  seen)  is  that  given  by 
Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle,  vol.  ii. 

116.  Milanesi,  Gaet.  and  Carlo,  op.  cit.,  vol.  i.  p.  194.  Vasari  does  not  know  that  Pietro  and  Am- 
brogio  were  brothers,  and  gives  to  Pietro,  from  a  false  reading  of  an  inscription,  the  surname  Laurati. 

117.  The  ascription  of  the  fresco  of  the  Hermits  in  the  Campo  Santo  to  Pietro  di  Lorenzo  was  first, 
and  rightly,  disputed  by  Forster,  Gesch.  der  Ital.  Malerei,  vol.  ii.  p.  382.  With  this  fresco  the  panels  of 
the  same  subject  at  Berlin  and  the  Uffizj  disappear  also  from  the  list  of  Pietro's  works.  The  frescoes 
given  by  Vasari  to  Cavallini  in  the  south  transept  of  the  Lower  Church  at  Assisi,  are  transferred  by  Crowe 
and  Cavalcaselle  to  Pietro  di  Lorenzo,  but  seem  rather  to  resemble  the  work  of  his  brother  Ambrogio. 

118.  For  the  documents  concerning  Bartolo  di  Maestro  Fredi,  see  Milanesi,  Gaet.,  and  Carlo,  op.  at., 
vol.  i.  p.  285,  304  s,p7.,  vol.  ii.  p.  36  ;  Gaye,  Carteggio,  vol.  i.  p.  70;  Vasari,  ed.  Milanesi,  vol.  ii.  pp. 
33  37.  For  those  concerning  Andrea  Vanni,  Milanesi,  Gaet.,  and  Carlo,  op.  at.,  vol.  1.  pp.  295,  305 
sqq.;  for  Ugolino  da  Orvieto  (al.  Ugolino  da  Prdc  Ilario)  Luzi.,  Ludov.,  //  Dnomo  di  On'ido  (Florence, 
1866),  doc.  xxvii.  xxxvii.  S(jq. 

11^.  Qon^nhlionoAm,  Memorie  inedileintorno  alia  vita  eai  dipinti  di  I-'r.  Traini  .  .  .  ;  Forster, 
Beitrage,  p.  105  ;  and  Lasinio,  Pitture  a  fresco  del  Campo  Santo  di  Pisa  (40  plates). 

120.  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle  attribute  this  famous  fresco  to  Pietro  di  Lorenzo  on  the  strength  of  its 
analogy  with  the  fresco  of  the  Hermits  in  the  same  place.  But,  as  we  have  already  sai.i  (note  i  17).  the 
attribution  of  the  latter  work  itself  is  more  than  <l<.ubtful.  Milanesi,  on  the  ..ther  (Vasari.  ol.  MilaneM. 
vol.  i.  p.  468),  would  assign  the  work  to  Hernar.lo  Da.ldi,  .m  the  strength  of  an  ai.onyn.<.us  MS.  m  the 
Pdd.  Magliabecchiana  (Cod.  Gaddiani,  CI.  xvii.  No.  17):  1ml  a  comparison  with  Bernardo's  rigid  frescoes 
in  S.  Croce  disposes  of  this  statement  at  once.  The  wor.ls  of  the  MS.  are  :  JWnardo/u  diseep,>lo  d,  (notto 
el  operb  assai  in  Firenze  d  in  allri  luoghi.  In  Pisa  dipime  la  ,/,iesa  di  .<?.  Paolo  a  A',pa  d\lrno  r^ ,»  Campo 
Santo  lo  Inferno. 


504  HISTORY  OF  PAINTING. 

121.  Yasari  ascribes  the  upper  tier  of  the  Ranieri  frescoes  to  Simone  da  Siena;  hut  we  have  the 
actual  entry  of  a  payment  made  to  Andrea  da  Firenze,  October  13,  A.D.  I377>  which  proves  that  the  latter 
•was  their  real  author,  at  a  time  when  Simone  had  been  thirty  years  dead.  This  Andrea  may  probably 
have  been  identical  with  the  Andrea  Euonajuti  whom  we  find  admitted  to  the  guild  A.D.  1343,  and 
making  his  will  November  13,  A. d.  1377.  To  complete  the  Ranieri  cycle  it  was  first  intended  to  call  in 
Barnaba  da  Modena,  a.  d.  1380  ;  but  negotiations  with  this  artist  do  not  seem  to  have  come  to  an  issue, 
and  the  execution  of  the  three  lower  pictures  fell,  as  has  been  said  in  the  te.Kt,  to  Antonio  di  Francesco, 
who  had  been  matriculated  as  a  member  of  the  Florentine  guild  a.d.  1374.  He  received  payment  for  his 
three  pictures  at  Pisa  a.d.  1386. 

122.  See  Schulz,  Ziir  Gcsch.  dcr  Malerei  im  Konigrekh  Neapel,  in  Kicnst  des  Mittelalters  in  Unter- 
italien,  vol.  iii.  p.   143. 

123.  See  Aloe,  Cav.  Stanislas,  Les  peintiircs  de  Giotto  de  P Eglise  de  Pl/tcoronata  a  Naples,  Berlin, 
1S43  ;  and  Schulz,  PI.  76,  Fig.  i. 

124.  See  Brufalli,  Aleiiiorie  originali  riguandanti  Ottaviano  Nelli,  Perugia,  1872  ;  comp.  Forster, 
Cesch.  d.  ital.  A'lmst,  vol.  iv.  p.  107  (plate  in  Deukmale,  vol.  iii.  PI.  2,  3).  The  Arundel  Society  have 
published  a  coloured  reproduction  of  this  work. 

125.  E.g.  The  coronation  of  the  Virgin  by  Semitecolo  in  the  Academy  (A.D.  1351);  Christ  en- 
throned by  Lorenzo  Veneziano  in  the  Correr  Museum  (A.D.   1369). 

126.  Altichiero  is  mentioned  first  by  Michele  Savonarola,  a  famous  physician  at  Padua  in  the  fifteenth 
century  (Savonarola,  M.,  Coinmentariolus  de  laudibus  urbis  Patavii  in  Muratori,  Hrv.  Ital.  Script. ,  vol.  x.xiv. 
col.  1 133);  then  by  an  anonymous  amateur  of  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  whose  manuscript  notes 
of  travel  in  Northei-n  Italy  were  edited  by  Morelli  a.d.  1800,  and  who  is  thence  known  as  the  Anonimo  di 
Jiforelli  {N'otizia  d'opere  di  disegno  nella  prima  iiieta  del  secolo  XVI.  esistenti  in  Padova,  Venezia,  Milano, 
Pavia,  Bergamo,  Creiiia  e  Cremona,  scritta  da  tin  anonimo  di  quel  tempo,  pnbblicata  e  illiistrata  da  D. 
Jacopo  Morelli,  Bassano,  1 800);  and  lastly  by  Vasari  in  his  life  of  Carpaccio  (ed.  Le  Monnier,  vol.  vi.  p. 
89).  These  authorities,  together  with  Gualandi  {Memorie  delle  belle  arti,  Scr.  vi.  p.  135),  exhibit  dis- 
crepancies, which  we  have  no  means  of  reconciling,  as  to  the  parts  which  they  severally  assign  to  Altichiero 
and  Avanzi  in  the  decorations  of  the  Cappella  S.  Felice  and  the  Cappella  S.  Giorgio,  as  also  of  the  Sala  de 
Giganti  in  the  Palazzo  del  Capitano,  now  turned  into  a  university  libraiy,  and  containing  almost  indis- 
tinguishable remains  of  frescoes.  The  Ano>iimo  of  Morelli  professes  uncertainty  whether  Jacopo  Avanzi 
was  a  native  of  Padua,  or  Verona,  or  Bologna  ;  but  it  is  clear  that  the  painter  of  the  Paduan  frescoes 
cannot  be  identical  with  the  yacobiis  de  Avanciis  de  Bononia,  whose  signature  occurs  on  an  indifferent  panel 
in  the  Colonna  Galleiy  at  Rome. 

127.  E.  Forster,  who  discovered  these  pictures  A.D.   1837,  deciphered  the  inscription,  Avantiis  Ver 
beneath  the  border  of  the  last  fresco  from  the  life  of  S.  Lugy.      Savonarola  gives  Altichiero  alone 

as  the  painter,  Vasari  and  the  Anonimo,  both  Altichiero  and  Avanzi.      See  Forster,  E.,  Die  Wandgemdlde 
der  S.  Georgenkapelle  zu  Padua,  Berlin,  1841. 

128.  See  Ridolfi,  C,  Le  Meraviglie  deW  Aj-te  (Venice,  1648),  p.  27. 

129.  Rome,  Bibl.  Nat.,  No.  1071.  Liber  de  venatione  avitcm.  Ancfor  est  diviis  Aiignstus  Fridericus 
secicndits  Poman.  imperator,  Jcrus.  et  Sic.  rex. 

130.  Florence,  Bibl.  Laitr.,  No.  300,  small  fob,  13th  cent. 

131.  For  the  La  Cava  MSS.  see   Guillaume,  P.,  Essai  historiqite  siir  F Abbaye  de  Cava  dei   Tirrcni, 
1877.      For  the  Virgil  with  the  false  signature  of  Simone  of  Siena,  Rosini,  PI.  xvi.,  and  the  reputation  of 
its  authenticity  in  Schnaase,  Gesch.  d.  bild.  Knnste,  vol.  vii.  p.  430. 

132.  This  statement  concerning  the  residence  of  Oderigi  in  Bologna  has  been  confirmed  for  the  interval 
A.D.  1 268- 1 27 1   by  recent   researches;  see    Giornale  d' Erudizione  A7-tistica,  Perugia,   1873,  vol.  ii.  p.   i. 

133.  London,  Brit.  Mus.,  MSS.,  Regia,  6  E.  ix. 

134.  Rome,  Bibl.  Vat.,  No.  2639  (see  Seroux  d' Agincourt,  PI.  75,  Figs.  4-7);  Munich,  Staatsbtbl.,  Lat. 
10072  (with  the  signature  N'icolaus  de  Bonottia  p.  on  two  of  the  pictures,  and  at  the  end,  correctnm  et  scrip- 
turn  per  me  ba)-tholomeum  debartholis  de  bononia  scriptorem  mccclxxiii.  indictione,  xii.  xiii.  Feb.);  Venice,. 
Bibl.  Marc,  CI.  iii.  cod.  xcvii. 

135.  E.g.  prob.  the  Corcordantiae  Canonicae  and  the  Liber  Decretalium  at  Naples,  Bibl.  Nat.,  xii.  A. 
I  u.  2,  and  the  Digesta  at  Turin,  Bibl.  Nat.,  E.  I.   I, 


APPENDIX.  505 

136.  Florence,  Bibl.  Laiir.,  Badia  Cod.  ix.,  No.  204;  London,  Brii.  Mus.,  Addit.  .MSS.  19587; 
Stuttgart,  OeJ.  Bibl.,  Poet,  et  PhiloL,  fol.  19  ;  Modena,  Bibl.  Est  ;  Naples,  Bibl.  A'az.,  No.  26  ;  Venice, 
Bibl.  Marc.y  CI.  ix.  Cod.  cclxxvi.;  V^lus,  Bibl.  A^at.,  Ital.  73,  written  A.D.  1403  by  Paolo  di  Duccio 
Tosi  of  Pisa  for  Francesco  Petrucci  at  Siena. 

137.  Paris,  Bibl.  Nat.,  Fran^.  4274.  Text  in  French,  Institution  de  Fordrc  dtt  Saint  Esprit  par  le 
Roy  Louis  de  Sidle  et  de  jfirusaleiu  en  1352. 

138.  Vaxis,  Bibl.  iVtit.,  Fran9.  9561,  Lat.  8846;  Brussels,^//'/,  de  Bourgogne,  11060,  11061. 

139.  See  Schack,  A.  Fr.  von,  Poesie  u.  Ktinst  der  Araber  in  Spanienu.  Siciliat,  2  vols.,  Berlin,  1865. 

140.  See  Goury,  M.  J.  and  Jones,  Owen,  Plans,  Elevations,  and  Details  of  the  Alhainbra,  London, 
1842,  vol.  i.  PI.  46  sqq.      Compare  Kugler,  Kl.  Schriften,  vol.  ii.  p.  687. 

141.  Vienna,  Ho/bibl.,  Cod.  Orient.  A.  F.  9  (709)  and  A.  T.  93  (205);  Nos.  372  and  512  respec- 
tively in  the  catalogue  of  Fliigel.  Concerning  the  former  example  see  Prisse  d'  Avennes,  Vart  arabe  d'af'ris 
les  vionuments  dn  Kdire,  atlas  iii.  PI.  1 77- 1 80. 


END  OF  VOL.  L 


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